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brass - What does it mean?

Definition of 'brass'

English

(wikipedia)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (uncountable) A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
  • (countable|music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound.
  • Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired.
  • (uncountable) The colour of brass.
  • (uncountable|used as a singular or plural noun|military) High-ranking officers.
    • The brass are not going to like this.
    The brass is not going to like this.
  • (uncountable|informal) A brave or foolhardy attitude.
    • You've got a lot of brass telling me to do that!
  • (slang|dated) Money.
  • Inferior composition.
    • Derived terms
    * bold as brass * brass balls * brass band * brassboard * brass hat * brass in pocket * brass instrument * brass knuckles * brass monkey * brass nail * brass neck * brass rat * brass ring * brass section * brass tacks (rel-mid) * brassbound * brass-collar * brassed off * brass-rubbing * brassware * brasswind * brassy * calamine brass * high brass * get down to brass tacks * nonbrass * not have a brass farthing * top brass (rel-bottom)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Of the colour of brass.
  • (informal) Impertinent, bold: brazen.
  • * 1996 May 24, 2:00 am, Sherman Simpson, Want license key for AGENT FOR WINDOWS95 , alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent:
    • Maybe (probably so), but it's rare someone is brass enough to post a msg for all to see asking for a software key, that the vast majority have paid for in support of the development effort.
  • * 2000 Aug 18, 2:00 am, David Ryan, strangest bid retraction /illegal lottery NOT , rec.collecting.coins:
    • After cornering the dutch auction, the seller was brass enough to send him the whole lot without one.
  • * 2000 Aug 19, 3:00 am, n4mwd, for RMB , alt.support.anxiety-panic:
    • Try to keep in mind that not all of his converts are brass enough to challenge the benzo pushers in this group, [...]
  • (slang) Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments .
  • * 1888 , Mr. & Mrs. Bancroft on and off the stage: written by themselves , volume 1, page 90:
    • 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.
  • * 1900 , The Training of Seamen'', published in ''The Saturday Review , 3 November 1900, volume 90, number 2349, page 556:
    • I must confess that to me there is something almost pathetic in the sight of a body of bluejackets improving their muscles on the quarter deck by bar-bell exercise, accompanied by a brass — a very brass — band, [...]
  • * 1908 , The Smith Family'', published in ''Punch'', March 4 1908, bound in ''Punch vol. CXXXIV , page 168:
    • Mr. REGINALD SMITH, KC, the publisher, followed, but he had hardly begun his very interesting remarks when a procession headed by a very brass band entered Smithfield from the west, and approached the platform.
  • * 1937 , Blair Niles, A journey in time: Peruvian pageant , page 166:
    • There are soldiers, policemen, priests and friars, as well as a motley mass of women, children, babies and dogs, and upon special occasions a very brass band.
  • * Philippine Magazine , volume 6, page 27: (rfdate)
    • The padre in my neighborhood — Santa Ana — was having some kind of a fiesta, and had hired a very brass band. This band kept up its martial airs for hours and hours after I got home, with grand finales — or what each time I hoped would be the grand finale, every five minutes.
  • Of inferior composition.
  • *
    • Quotations
    * 1869 , Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, 1637-1638 , edited by John Bruce, page 147: *: At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough. * 1872 , Elsie Leigh Whittlesey, Helen Ethinger: or, Not Exactly Right , page 154: *: [...] he continued in the same insulting strain. "If you were not quite brass , you would know it is not proper to be making promises you dare not tell of." * 2011 , Paul Christopher, The Templar Conspiracy : *: It was a show of very large and very brass cojones, [...]

    Related terms

    * braze * brazen * brazier

    Etymology 2

    By ellipsis

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable|slang) Brass in pocket; money.
  • (countable|slang) A brass nail; a prostitute.

    • Adjective

    (head)
  • (slang) Brass monkey; cold.

    • See also

    * althorn * chalcography * cornet * euphonium * flugelhorn * French horn * mellophone * Muntz metal * saxhorn * sousaphone * trombone * trumpet * tuba * ----

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