brown: Meaning and Definition of

brown

Pronunciation: (broun), [key]
— n., adj., v. -er, -est,
—n.
  1. a dark tertiary color with a yellowish or reddish hue.
  2. a person whose skin has a dusky or light-brown pigmentation.
—adj.
  1. of the color brown.
  2. (of animals) having skin, fur, hair, or feathers of that color.
  3. sunburned or tanned.
  4. (of persons) having the skin naturally pigmented a brown color.
  5. to do thoroughly: When they entertain, they really do it up brown.
—v.t., v.i.
  1. to make or become brown.
  2. to fry, sauté, or scorch slightly in cooking: to brown onions before adding them to the stew. The potatoes browned in the pan.
  3. angry; fed up.
  4. to subject to a brownout: The power failure browned out the southern half of the state.

Brown

Pronunciation: (broun), [key]
— n.
  1. 1771–1810, U.S. novelist.
  2. (Jerry), born 1938, U.S. politician: governor of California 1975–83.
  3. (Jimmy), born 1936, U.S. football player and actor.
  4. (“Old Brown of Osawatomie”), 1800–59, U.S. abolitionist: leader of the attack at Harpers Ferry, where he was captured, tried for treason, and hanged.
  5. 1835–1926, U.S. women's-rights activist and Universalist minister: first American woman ordained by a major church.
  6. 1773–1858, Scottish botanist.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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