Crossword Genius

A lot of children ponder morbidly (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

brood

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ponder morbidly' is the definition.
'brood' can be an answer for 'ponder' (brooding is a kind of pondering). I am unsure of the 'morbidly' bit.

'a lot of children' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'lot' could be 'd' and 'd' is present in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'bro' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brood that I've seen before include "Think anxiously for some time" , "Meditate moodily" , "Hatch" , "Family of young birds" , "Think resentfully - about young birds?" .)

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