Brownness Brown"ness noun The quality or state of being brown. Now like I brown (O lovely brown thy hair);
Only in brownness beauty dwelleth there.
Drayton.
Brownstone Brown"stone` noun A dark variety of sandstone, much used for building purposes.
Brownwort Brown"wort` noun (Botany) A species of figwort or Scrophularia ( S. vernalis ), and other species of the same genus, mostly perennials with inconspicuous coarse flowers.
Browny Brown"y adjective Brown or, somewhat brown. "
Browny locks."
Shak.
Browpost Brow"post` noun (Carp.) A beam that goes across a building.
Browse Browse (brouz)
noun [ Old French
brost ,
broust , sprout, shoot, French
brout browse, browsewood, probably from Old High German
burst , German
borste , bristle; confer also Armor.
brousta to browse. See
Bristle ,
noun ,
Brush ,
noun ]
The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals; green food. Spenser. Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed,
On browse , and corn, and flowery meadows feed.
Dryden.
Browse Browse transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Browsed (brouzd);
present participle & verbal noun Browsing .] [ For
broust , Old French
brouster ,
bruster , French
brouter . See
Browse ,
noun , and confer
Brut .]
1. To eat or nibble off, as the tender branches of trees, shrubs, etc.; -- said of cattle, sheep, deer, and some other animals. Yes, like the stag, when snow the plasture sheets,
The barks of trees thou browsedst .
Shak.
2. To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze. Fields . . . browsed by deep-uddered kine.
Tennyson.
Browse Browse (brouz)
intransitive verb 1. To feed on the tender branches or shoots of shrubs or trees, as do cattle, sheep, and deer. 2. To pasture; to feed; to nibble. Shak.
Browser Brows"er (brouz"ẽr)
noun An animal that browses.
Browsewood Browse"wood` noun Shrubs and bushes upon which animals browse.
Browsing Brows"ing noun Browse; also, a place abounding with shrubs where animals may browse. Browsings for the deer.
Howell.
Browspot Brow"spot` noun (Zoology) A rounded organ between the eyes of the frog; the interocular gland.
Bruang Bru·ang" noun [ Native name.]
(Zoology) The Malayan sun bear.
Brucine Bru"cine noun [ Confer French
brucine , from James
Bruce , a Scottish traveler.]
(Chemistry) A powerful vegetable alkaloid, found, associated with strychnine, in the seeds of different species of Strychnos , especially in the Nux vomica . It is less powerful than strychnine. Called also brucia and brucina .
Brucite Bru"cite noun [ Named after Dr. A.
Bruce of New York.]
(Min.) (a) A white, pearly mineral, occurring thin and foliated, like talc, and also fibrous; a native magnesium hydrate. (b) The mineral chondrodite. [ R.]
Bruckeled Bruck"eled adjective Wet and dirty; begrimed. [ Obsolete or Dial.]
Herrick.
Bruh Bruh noun (Zoology) [ Native name.]
The rhesus monkey. See Rhesus .
Bruin Bru"in noun [ Dutch
bruin brown. In the epic poem of "Reynard the Fox" the bear is so called from his color. See
Brown ,
adjective ]
A bear; -- so called in popular tales and fables.
Bruise Bruise (bruz)
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bruised (bruzd);
present participle & verbal noun Bruising .] [ Middle English
brusen ,
brisen ,
brosen ,
bresen , Anglo-Saxon
brȳsan or from Old French
bruiser ,
bruisier ,
bruser , to break, shiver, perhaps from Old High German
brochisōn . Confer
Break ,
transitive verb ]
1. To injure, as by a blow or collision, without laceration; to contuse; as, to bruise one's finger with a hammer; to bruise the bark of a tree with a stone; to bruise an apple by letting it fall. 2. To break; as in a mortar; to bray, as minerals, roots, etc.; to crush. Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs.
Shak.
Syn. -- To pulverize; bray; triturate; pound; contuse.
Bruise Bruise intransitive verb To fight with the fists; to box. Bruising was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.
Thackeray.
Bruise Bruise noun An injury to the flesh of animals, or to plants, fruit, etc., with a blunt or heavy instrument, or by collision with some other body; a contusion; as, a bruise on the head; bruises on fruit. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises .
Isa. i. 6.
Bruiser Bruis"er noun 1. One who, or that which, bruises. 2. A boxer; a pugilist. R. Browning. Like a new bruiser on Broughtonic sand,
Amid the lists our hero takes his stand.
T. Warton.
3. A concave tool used in grinding lenses or the speculums of telescopes. Knight.
Bruisewort Bruise"wort` noun A plant supposed to heal bruises, as the true daisy, the soapwort, and the comfrey.
Bruit Bruit noun [ Middle English
bruit ,
brut , noise, bruit, French
bruit , from Late Latin
brugitus ; confer Latin
rugire to roar; perhaps influenced by the source of English
bray to make a harsh noise, Armor.
brud bruit.]
1. Report; rumor; fame. The bruit thereof will bring you many friends.
Shak.
2. [
French pron . ....]
(Medicine) An abnormal sound of several kinds, heard on auscultation.
Bruit Bruit transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Bruited ;
present participle & verbal noun Bruiting .]
To report; to noise abroad. I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited .
Shak.
Brumaire Bru`maire" noun [ French, from Latin
bruma winter.]
The second month of the calendar adopted by the first French republic. It began thirty days after the autumnal equinox. See Vendemiaire .
Brumal Bru"mal adjective [ Latin
brumalis , from
bruma winter: confer French
brumal .]
Of or pertaining to winter. "The
brumal solstice."
Sir T. Browne.
Brume Brume noun [ French
brume winter season, mist, Latin
bruma winter.]
Mist; fog; vapors. "The drifting
brume ."
Longfellow.
Brummagem Brum"ma·gem adjective [
Birmingham (formerly Bromwycham), Eng., "the great mart and manufactory of gilt toys, cheap jewelry," etc.]
Counterfeit; gaudy but worthless; sham. [ Slang] "These
Brummagem gentry."
Lady D. Hardy.
Brumous Bru"mous adjective Foggy; misty.
Brun Brun noun [ See
Broun a brook.]
Same as Brun , a brook. [ Scot.]
Brunette Bru·nette" noun [ French
brunet ,
brunette , brownish, dim. of
brun ,
brune , brown, from Old High German
br...n . See
Brown ,
adjective ]
A girl or woman with a somewhat brown or dark complexion. --
adjective Having a dark tint.
Brunion Brun"ion noun [ French
brugnon (cf. Italian
brugna ,
prugna ), from Latin
prunum . See
Prune ,
noun ]
A nectarine.
Brunonian Bru·no"ni·an adjective Pertaining to, or invented by, Brown ; -- a term applied to a system of medicine promulgated in the 18th century by John Brown , of Scotland, the fundamental doctrine of which was, that life is a state of excitation produced by the normal action of external agents upon the body, and that disease consists in excess or deficiency of excitation.
Brunswick black Bruns"wick black` See Japan black .
Brunswick green Bruns"wick green` [ German Braunschweiger grün , first made at Brunswick, in Germany.] An oxychloride of copper, used as a green pigment; also, a carbonate of copper similarly employed.
Brunt Brunt (brŭnt)
noun [ Middle English
brunt ,
bront , from Icelandic
bruna to rush; confer Icelandic
brenna to burn. Confer
Burn ,
transitive verb ]
1. The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle. 2. The force of a blow; shock; collision. "And heavy
brunt of cannon ball."
Hudibras. It is instantly and irrecoverably scattered by our first brunt with some real affair of common life.
I. Taylor.
Brush Brush noun [ Middle English
brusche , Old French
broche ,
broce ,
brosse , brushwood, French
brosse brush, Late Latin
brustia ,
bruscia , from Old High German
brusta ,
brust , bristle, German
borste bristle,
bürste brush. See
Bristle ,
noun , and confer
Browse .]
1. An instrument composed of bristles, or other like material, set in a suitable back or handle, as of wood, bone, or ivory, and used for various purposes, as in removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, etc. Brushes have different shapes and names according to their use; as, clothes brush , paint brush , tooth brush , etc. 2. The bushy tail of a fox. 3. (Zoology) A tuft of hair on the mandibles. 4. Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood. 5. A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small trees in a wood; underbrush. 6. (Electricity) A bundle of flexible wires or thin plates of metal, used to conduct an electrical current to or from the commutator of a dynamo, electric motor, or similar apparatus. 7. The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush ; a rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as, we got a brush from the wheel as it passed. [ As leaves] have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughts.
Shak.
8. A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy. Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong,
And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Shak.
9. A short contest, or trial, of speed. Let us enjoy a brush across the country.
Cornhill Mag.
Electrical brush ,
a form of the electric discharge characterized by a brushlike appearance of luminous rays diverging from an electrified body.
Brush Brush transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Brushed ;
present participle & verbal noun Brushing .] [ Middle English
bruschen ; confer French
brosser . See
Brush ,
noun ]
1. To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, smooth, clean, paint, etc., with a brush. "A'
brushes his hat o' mornings."
Shak. 2. To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush. Some spread their sailes, some with strong oars sweep
The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave.
Fairfax.
Brushed with the kiss of rustling wings.
Milton.
3. To remove or gather by brushing, or by an act like that of brushing, or by passing lightly over, as wind; -- commonly with off . As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen.
Shak.
And from the boughts brush off the evil dew.
Milton.
To brush aside ,
to remove from one's way, as with a brush. --
To brush away ,
to remove, as with a brush or brushing motion. --
To brush up ,
to paint, or make clean or bright with a brush; to cleanse or improve; to renew. You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors.
Pope.
Brush Brush intransitive verb To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by. Snatching his hat, he brushed off like the wind.
Goldsmith.
Brush Brush noun In Australia, a dense growth of vegetation in good soil, including shrubs and trees, mostly small.
Brush turkey Brush" tur`key (Zoology) A large, edible, gregarious bird of Australia ( Talegalla Lathami ) of the family Megapodidĉ . Also applied to several allied species of New Guinea. » The brush turkeys live in the "brush," and construct a common nest by collecting a large heap of decaying vegetable matter, which generates heat sufficient to hatch the numerous eggs (sometimes half a bushel) deposited in it by the females of the flock.
Brush wheel Brush" wheel` 1. A wheel without teeth, used to turn a similar one by the friction of bristles or something brushlike or soft attached to the circumference. 2. A circular revolving brush used by turners, lapidaries, silversmiths, etc., for polishing.
Brusher Brush"er noun One who, or that which, brushes.
Brushiness Brush"i·ness noun The quality of resembling a brush; brushlike condition; shagginess. Dr. H. More.
Brushing Brush"ing adjective 1. Constructed or used to brush with; as a brushing machine. 2. Brisk; light; as, a brushing gallop.
Brushite Brush"ite noun [ From George J.
Brush , an American mineralogist.]
(Min.) A white or gray crystalline mineral consisting of the acid phosphate of calcium.
Brushwood Brush"wood noun 1. Brush; a thicket or coppice of small trees and shrubs. 2. Small branches of trees cut off.
Brushy Brush"y adjective Resembling a brush; shaggy; rough.
Brusk Brusk adjective Same as Brusque .
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