Meaning of brother-in-law in English

brother-in-law

/ˈbrʌð.ə.rɪn.lɔː/ us

/ˈbrʌð.ɚ.ɪn.lɑː/

plural brothers-in-law

the husband of your sister or brotheror the brother of your husband or wifeor the man who is married to the sister or brother of your wife or husband

Thesaurus: synonymsantonymsand examples

your relatives

relativeAll my relatives gather every year for a family reunion.
extended familyHe has a very large extended family.
relationShe is a distant relation of histhough I don't quite remember how.
kinHe remained true to his kin.
mother's/father's side (of the family)I have aunts and uncles on my mother's side of the family.

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Family: non-blood relations

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Examples from literature

He looked at his brother-in-law for a minute.
Her family sat in an affectionately earnest row and adjured her—four married sistersfour blissful brothers-in-lawher attractive stepmotherher father.
I seem to have heard that you did not like your brother-in-lawand that you were opposed to the marriage.
That very morningwhen his wife had attempted to condole with her brother-in-lawPrince Peter had observed a look of pain on his brother's face.
Yetas soon as she heard of the presence of her brother-in-lawshe insisted upon seeing him.

(Definition of brother-in-law from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

brother-in-law | American Dictionary

brother-in-law

noun [ C ]

/ˈbrʌð·ər·ənˌlɔ/

plural brothers-in-law us/ˈbrʌð·ərz·ənˌlɔ/

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the husband of someone’s sisteror the brother of someone’s wife or husbandor the husband of the sister of someone’s wife or husband

(Definition of brother-in-law from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of brother-in-law

brother-in-law

His father-in-lawhis brother-in-law and another of his wife's relatives provided him with loans as well.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Tagore wrote on this themesuggesting the eroticism inherent in the forbidden crossing of boundarieswhere the woman often becomes attracted towards her brother-in-law.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

For mostdominion passed to a son ormore frequentlyto a son-in-lawbrother or brother-in-law.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Three years later she fledsuing her brother-in-law for her fortune.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

She likes to get her 5%even from her problem brother-in-law; so she does not call her money in.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

She is a far more consistent capitalist than her brother-in-law.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Growing loneliness probably led many women to seek solace in other relationshipsand the chances of their getting close to their younger brother-in-law multiplied.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The adulterer had both arms broken by the woman's brother-in-law but otherwise escaped punishment.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Loaning a plot of land to one's brother-in-law does not correspond to a right that the beneficiary would have over landbut to a non-obligatory transfera favour.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They had refused to accept him as a ruling elder or member of the presbytery - apparently because he was trying to force his brother-in-law in as minister.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It disturbsor may disturbthe carefree relationship which now hold husbandwifebrother-in-law and sister-in-law together.

From the

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