brass

BRAS/bɹæs/UKBRAHS/bɹɑːs/

18 meanings of brass

1
the metalnouncountable or uncountable
A metallic alloy of copper and zinc, used for many purposes in industry and in plumbing.
The plumber swapped the leaking plastic valve for a sturdier one made of brass.
The foundry produces several brasses, each with a slightly different ratio of copper to zinc.
UsageUsually made of brass; counted, brasses names different blends of the alloy.
Note
Old English bræs meant both brass and bronze, so the word once spanned two alloys that metalworkers now keep apart.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Old English bræs meant both brass and bronze. en.wiktionary.org
Brass and bronze are distinguished as different alloys today. en.wikipedia.org
2
adjective
Made of brass, or relating to brass.
A row of brass candlesticks lined the dining room mantel.
The town's brass foundries once employed half of its workers.
3
trumpets and hornsnoununcountable
Wind instruments, usually metal, whose sound comes from the vibration of the player's lips; also, the band or orchestral section made up of them.
When the brass enters in the last movement, the whole hall seems to shake.
She switched from woodwinds to brass after hearing a jazz trumpeter play live.
UsageUsually the brass for the whole section, brass instruments for the instruments, and a brass band.
Note
The class is defined by the lips, not the metal: the player's lips buzz against a mouthpiece and set the air in the tube vibrating. A saxophone is made of metal yet belongs with the woodwinds for exactly that reason.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Brass instruments are classified by vibrating lips rather than their construction material. dartmouth.edu
The player's vibrating lips excite the air column inside the instrument. web.uniarts.fi
The saxophone is normally metal but is classified as a woodwind because its sound production uses a reed. en.wikipedia.org
4
top bossesnounmetonymicallyuncountable
The high-ranking officers of the military, or the senior leaders of a business or other organization, considered as a group.
The plan looked fine on paper, but the brass at headquarters rejected it within a day.
Company brass flew in from Chicago to announce the layoffs in person.
UsageCommon in the top brass and company brass; the verb can be singular or plural.
Similarleadership, management, bigwigs
Note
The word is a metonym: like the fuller brass hats, it names officers by what they wear on their heads, and it serves business and other organizations as readily as the military.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The military sense of brass is a shortening of brass hats. en.wiktionary.org
The expression is metonymic, referring to officers through their headgear. en.wiktionary.org
5
metal objectsnouncountable or uncountable
Objects made of brass, such as fittings and utensils.
The sailors spent the morning polishing the ship's brass.
Antique brasses from the estate sold quickly at the auction.
Similarbrassware
6
empty shellsnoununcountable
Spent cartridge casings, usually made of brass, that remain after bullets or shells have been fired.
Shooters at the range are asked to sweep up their brass before leaving.
Investigators photographed every piece of brass on the sidewalk before bagging it as evidence.
7
grave platenouncountable or uncountable
A tablet commemorating the dead or marking a tomb, usually made of brass or latten; also called a monumental brass.
The brass on the tomb shows the knight in full armor, with his wife beside him.
Visitors kneel on the stone floor to make rubbings of the brasses marking the old merchants' graves.
UsageOften in brass rubbing, a paper copy made by rubbing over one.
Note
Here the alloy has become the object: a memorial plate is a brass even when the metal is latten, and the looseness is old, since Old English bræs covered both brass and bronze.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
A monumental brass can be made of latten. en.wikipedia.org
Old English bræs meant both brass and bronze. en.wiktionary.org

Less common meanings

8
the colornoununcountable
The warm yellowish color of brass.
The new car came in a metallic brass that looked almost gold in the sun.
Her dress was a soft brass that caught the candlelight.
9
adjective
Having the warm yellowish color of brass.
Smoke from the fires filled the valley with a dull brass light all afternoon.
Under the old streetlights, the wet street shone brass.
Similarbrassy, golden
10
nervenouncolloquialuncountable
A brave or foolhardy attitude, or the impudence to say or do what others would not dare.
It took real brass to walk into the champion's gym and challenge him in front of everyone.
He had the brass to demand a refund after breaking the blender himself.
UsageUsually have the brass to do something.
Similarnerve, gall, cheek, audacity, chutzpah
11
moneynoundateduncountable
Money.
He made his brass in the coal business and spent most of it on horses.
She wouldn't lend him any more brass until he paid back what he owed.
UsageUsed like money, with no a: make some brass, short of brass.
Similarmoney, cash, dough
12
coat with metalverbtransitive
To cover the surface of something with a coating of brass.
Some makers brass cheap steel buttons to give them a warm, golden shine.
The restorer brassed the iron handles to match the cabinet's original fittings.
13
adjective
Made of inferior stuff; of poor composition.
As Honest Plush Brannon then, Mr. Beery is one of San Francisco's fancier con men and hence more brass than plush
1939, The New York times film reviews
Note
The sense works best in a contrast, with the lesser stuff set against something finer: a New York Times film review called Beery's con man more brass than plush. Lines like that can lean on the "brazen" meaning too, because a con man is both shoddy and bold.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
A New York Times film review described Beery's con man as more brass than plush. en.wiktionary.org
14
prostitutenounslangcountable
A prostitute.
The detective spent the night asking the brasses along the street what they had seen.
She had worked as a brass in the city for years before she found a way out.
UsageCan sound crude; prostitute or sex worker is the neutral choice.
Similarprostitute, hooker
Note
Cockney rhyming slang sits behind it: brass flute rhymes with prostitute, and, as so often in that slang, the rhyming word fell away and left brass alone. Brass nail, another clipped phrase, may have fed it too. Will Self writes of "one of the brasses" in 1996; in ordinary speech or writing, prostitute or sex worker is the neutral choice.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Brass is derived partly from Cockney rhyming slang brass flute for prostitute, shortened by dropping flute. en.wiktionary.org
Omission of the rhyming part is characteristic of rhyming slang. en.wikipedia.org
Clipping brass nail is another stated source of brass meaning prostitute. en.wiktionary.org
Will Self uses the exact phrase “one of the brasses” in narrative prose in The Sweet Smell of Psychosis. groveatlantic.com
The Sweet Smell of Psychosis was originally published in 1996. en.wikipedia.org
15
old length unitnounobsoletehistorical
A traditional unit of length roughly equal to a fathom, varying by country, especially the Spanish braza, the Portuguese braça, or the French brasse.
Note
The measure is named for the body: Latin bracchium, "arm", gave Spanish braza and Portuguese braça, the reach of a person's outstretched arms. It is a separate word from the metal that happens to share its spelling, and brace is the same measure written another way.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
Latin bracchium means “arm”. en.wiktionary.org
Spanish braza derives ultimately from Latin bracchium. en.wiktionary.org
Portuguese braça derives ultimately from Latin bracchium. en.wiktionary.org
These measures represent the span of outstretched arms. fr.wiktionary.org
The measure word brass has a separate etymology from the metal word. en.wiktionary.org
Brace also names the measure based on outstretched arms. en.wiktionary.org
16
adjectivecolloquial
Rudely bold in a way that shows no embarrassment; brazen.
After cornering the dutch auction, the seller was brass enough to send him the whole lot without one.
2000, 2:00 am, David Ryan
17
adjectiveslang
Cold; the same as brass monkey.
18
adjectiveslang
Bad or annoying, used as a pun, especially of brass instruments and the bands that play them.
There are soldiers, policemen, priests and friars, as well as a motley mass of women, children, babies and dogs, and upon special occasions a very brass band.
1937, Blair Niles, A journey in time: Peruvian pageant

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of brass apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–13

Old English bræs ("brass, bronze") became Middle English bras, bres. Its origin is uncertain. It may be a back-formation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz ("brazen"), which comes from or is related to *brasō ("fire, pyre"). Similar words include Old Norse and Icelandic bras ("solder"), Danish brase ("to fry"), Swedish brasa ("a small controlled fire"), and French braser ("to solder"), which comes from the same Germanic root. In the military sense the word is short for the brass hats.

Meaning 14

By ellipsis from brass nail, Cockney rhyming slang for "tail" (a prostitute); also shortened from the Cockney rhyming slang brass flute for "prostitute".

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

Brass meaning prostitute is shortened from brass nail. worldwidewords.org
Brass nail is rhyming slang for tail. Although Wiktionary's brass entry repeats the proposed derivation, its brass nail entry gives the rhyming-slang explanation, also supported by Michael Quinion. en.wiktionary.org
Brass also derives from Cockney rhyming slang brass flute for prostitute. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 15

Ancient Greek brakhíōn ("upper arm") gave Latin bracchium ("arm, cubit"), whose plural brachia became Old Spanish and Old Galician-Portuguese braça, the source of Portuguese braça and Spanish braza.