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Brass
Definitions
- 1 Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.
- 2 Brass monkey; cold. slang
- 3 Of the color of brass.
- 4 Impertinent, bold: brazen. informal
"At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough."
- 5 Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments. slang
"Grindoff, the miller, 'and the leader of a very brass band of most unpopular performers, with a thorough base accompaniment of at least fifty vices,' was played by Miss Saunders."
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- 6 Of inferior composition.
"As Honest Plush Brannon then, Mr. Beery is one of San Francisco's fancier con men and hence more brass than plush"
- 1 A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.; A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten: a monumental brass. countable, uncountable, usually
- 2 A prostitute. countable, slang, usually
"Richard didn't want the man on the corner to go up and fuck one of the brasses."
- 3 Synonym of brace, a traditional unit of measure equivalent to a fathom (6 feet) or about 1.6 m, especially as the Spanish braza and Portuguese braça, also French brasse. historical, obsolete
- 4 a wind instrument that consists of a brass tube (usually of variable length) that is blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece wordnet
- 5 A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.; Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass. countable, uncountable, usually
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- 6 a memorial made of brass wordnet
- 7 A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; a band or the section of an orchestra that features such instruments. uncountable, usually
"A few measures later, the brass comes in strong!"
- 8 an ornament or utensil made of brass wordnet
- 9 Spent cartridge casings (usually made of brass): the part of the cartridge left over after bullets or shells have been fired. uncountable, usually
- 10 impudent aggressiveness wordnet
- 11 The color of brass. uncountable, usually
- 12 the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something wordnet
- 13 High-ranking officers: the brass hats. metonymically, uncountable, usually
"The brass are not going to like this."
- 14 the section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments wordnet
- 15 A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence. informal, uncountable, usually
"You've got a lot of brass telling me to do that!"
- 16 an alloy of copper and zinc wordnet
- 17 Money. dated, slang, uncountable, usually
- 18 Inferior composition. uncountable, usually
- 1 To coat with brass. transitive
Etymology
From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”). In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.
From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”). In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.
From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”). In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.
By ellipsis from brass nail, in turn from "nail[ing]" (fig.) and "brass blonde" (see "brazen"); and also shortened from Cockney Rhyming slang brass flute for "prostitute".
By ellipsis from brass nail, in turn from "nail[ing]" (fig.) and "brass blonde" (see "brazen"); and also shortened from Cockney Rhyming slang brass flute for "prostitute".
From Portuguese braça and Spanish braza, from Old Galician-Portuguese and Old Spanish braça, from Latin brachia, variant of bracchium (“arm, cubit”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “upper arm”).
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