Brown Bess
A familiar name for the old flint-lock musket formerly in use in the
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Brown Bill
A kind of halbert used by English foot-soldiers before muskets were employed. They were staff weapons, with heads like bill-hooks but furnished with spikes at the top and back. The brown probably refers to the rusty condition in which they were kept; though, on the other hand, it may stand for burnished (Dut. brun, shining), as in the old phrases "my bonnie brown sword," "brown as glass," etc.
Brown Bomber
Joe Louis (b. 1914), un- defeated heavyweight champion of the world from 1937 until his retirement in 1949.
brown bread
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brown eye
the anus
brown george
An ammunition loaf, A wig without powder; similar to the undress wig worn by his majesty.
brown noser
Someone who tries to win favor by flattering people or behaving in a way that is not genuine
brown power
political power or influence held by Hispanic or Latino people
brown study
a state of deep thought or daydreaming
brown study
Absence of mind; apparent thought, but real vacuity. The corresponding French expression explains it — sombre reverie. Sombre and brun both mean sad, melancholy, gloomy, dull.
brown sugar
Heroin.
brown talk
Conversation of an exceedingly proper character, Quakerish. Compare BLUE.
brown thumb
Having a lack of ability to care for plants
brown to
To understand, to comprehend.
browned off
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
browned off
This is a slang phrase that came into general use during World War II, meaning "fed up," bored or disillusioned. Various derivations of the phrase have been suggested, but none of them appears satis- factory.
browneye
The anus.
brownian motion
Random and unpredictable movement or change
brownie point
an advantage or credit gained by doing something good
brown’s
(Rev. Hugh Stowell) Lecture on Manliness, 12mo. 1857.
bruce
A man.
bruiser
A boxer; one skilled in the art of boxing also an inferior workman among chasers.
bruiser
A fighting man, a pugilist. Shakspeare uses the word BRUISING in a similar sense.
brum
A counterfeit coin. Nearly obsolete. Corruption of Brummagem, for meaning of which see Introductory Chapter.
brush
A fox’s tail, a house-painter. Also a scrimmage.
brush by
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brush down
to ignore or dismiss something
brush off
to ignore or dismiss something
brush up
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
brusher
A bumper, a full glass. See BUMPER.
brutally
Extremely.
bruvver
Brother.
brydges’
(Sir Egerton) British Bibliographer, 4 vols. 8vo. 1810-14.
bub
Drink of any kind.—See GRUB. Middleton, the dramatist, mentions BUBBER, a great drinker.
bubber
A drinking bowl; also a great drinker; a thief that steals plate from public houses. CANT.
bubble
To over-reach, deceive, to tempt by means of false promises.—Old. (Acta Regia, ii. 248, 1726.)
bubble and squeak
A Greek.
bubble and squeak
Cold boiled potatoes and greens fried up together, sometimes with bits of cold meat as well. They first bubbled in water when boiled, and afterwards hissed or squeaked in the frying-pan.
bubble bath
A laugh.
bubble over
to be extremely happy or excited
bubble-and-squeak
A dish composed of pieces of cold roast or boiled meat and greens, afterwards fried, which have thus first BUBBLED in the pot, and then SQUEAKED or hissed in the pan.
bubble-company
A swindling association.
bubbley-jock
A turkey, or silly boasting fellow; a prig.—Scottish. In the north of England the bird is called a BOBBLE-COCK. Both names, no doubt, from its cry, which is supposed by imaginative persons to consist of the two words exactly.
bubbly jock
A turkey cock. SCOTCH.
bube
The venereal disease.
buck
A blind horse; also a gay debauchee.
buck
A gay or smart man; an unlicensed cabman; also a large marble used by schoolboys.
buck bail
Bail given by a sharper for one of the gang.
buck down
to work diligently and seriously
buck fever
Nervous excitement or anxiety, especially when hunting
buck fitch
A lecherous old fellow.
buck for
support or promote something
buck in
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
buck off
to get rid of someone or something unwanted
buck out
to throw someone off
buck up
to cheer up or become more enthusiastic
buck up one's ideas
to improve or revise one's ideas
buck up to
to accept and deal with a difficult situation
buckaroonie
Dollar.
buckaroonies
Dollars.
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