brass
Meanings
Plural: brasses
Noun
- an alloy of copper and zinc
- 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
- the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something
- impudent aggressiveness
- an ornament or utensil made of brass
- the section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments
- a memorial made of brass
- 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.
- A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
- Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass.
- 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.
- Spent cartridge casings (usually made of brass): the part of the cartridge left over after bullets or shells have been fired.
- The color of brass.
- High-ranking officers: the brass hats.
- A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence.
- Money.
- Inferior composition.
- A prostitute.
- 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.
Adj
- Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.
- Of the color of brass.
- Impertinent, bold: brazen.
- Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.
- Of inferior composition.
- Brass monkey; cold.
Verb
- To coat with brass.
Origin / 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.
Synonyms
administration, boldness, brace, brass instrument, brass section, bronze, cheek, establishment, face, governance, governing body, memorial tablet, nerve, organisation, organization, plaque
Scrabble Score: 7
brass is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordbrass is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
brass is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary