To pierce or spit (meat) on a broach or skewer; an archaic cooking term for preparing meat for roasting.
From French 'embrocher,' literally 'to put on a spit,' from 'broche' (spit or brooch). The 'em-' prefix intensifies the action. Used in English from the 1500s-1600s.
This is how medieval and Renaissance cooks prepared whole animals for roasting over fires—essentially the original 'kebab' technique that's still used worldwide.
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