brown
Pronunciation: (broun), [key]
— n., adj., v. -er, -est,
—n.
- a dark tertiary color with a yellowish or reddish hue.
- a person whose skin has a dusky or light-brown pigmentation.
—adj.
- of the color brown.
- (of animals) having skin, fur, hair, or feathers of that color.
- sunburned or tanned.
- (of persons) having the skin naturally pigmented a brown color.
- to do thoroughly: When they entertain, they really do it up brown.
—v.t., v.i.
- to make or become brown.
- to fry, sauté, or scorch slightly in cooking: to brown onions before adding them to the stew. The potatoes browned in the pan.
- angry; fed up.
- to subject to a brownout: The power failure browned out the southern half of the state.
Brown
Pronunciation: (broun), [key]
— n.
- 1771–1810, U.S. novelist.
- (Jerry), born 1938, U.S. politician: governor of California 1975–83.
- (Jimmy), born 1936, U.S. football player and actor.
- (“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.
- 1835–1926, U.S. women's-rights activist and Universalist minister: first American woman ordained by a major church.
- 1773–1858, Scottish botanist.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.