brass - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

WordReference.com English Dictionary

brass:

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
brass/brɑːs/

▶noun

1 a yellow alloy of copper and zinc.
■ (also horse brass) Brit. a flat brass ornament for the harness of a draught horse.

■ a memorial consisting of a flat piece of inscribed brass set into the wall or floor of a church.

■ a brass block used for stamping a design on a book binding.

2 brass wind instruments forming a band or section of an orchestra.

3 (also top brass) informal people in authority.

4 Brit. informal money.

– phrases
brassed off Brit. informal exasperated.
brass monkey Brit. informal used to indicate extremely cold weather: cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. [from a type of brass rack or ‘monkey’ in which cannonballs were stored and which contracted in very cold weather, ejecting the balls.]
get down to brass tacks informal start to consider the basic facts or practical details.

– origin OE bræs, of unknown origin.

'brass' also found in these Oxford entries:

band - bandmaster - bold - boulle - brass band - brass hat - brassie - brass rubbing - brassy - brazen - brazier - bronze - bugle - chalcid - copper - cornet - cymbal - embouchure - euphonium - fanfare - flourish - flugelhorn - French horn - heelball - horn - jazz - knob - latten - laver - Magdeburg hemispheres - Muntz metal - mute - natural - nickel brass - oompah - ophicleide - orchestra - pedal note - piston - rub - rubbing - saxhorn - symphony orchestra - tenon saw - top brass - trombone - trumpet - tuba - valve

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