brass monkey
Very cold.
It's brass monkey weather today, isn't it?
brass
UK /bɹɑːs/ US /bɹæs/
noun 7adj 6verb 1
Collocations
7(noun.) metal
ADJ
gleaming, glittering, polished, shiny | solid
VERB + BRASS
be made from/in/(out) of
The old trumpet was made from brass that had turned green over time.
PREP
in ~
The sculptor created a beautiful statue in brass for the town square.
(noun.) musical instruments made of brass
BRASS + NOUN
band | instrument
section
The jazz band's brass section filled the concert hall with rich, powerful sound.
Definitions
noun
1
A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
2
A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
3
A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; a band or the section of an orchestra that features such instruments.
A few measures later, the brass comes in strong!
4
Spent cartridge casings (usually made of brass): the part of the cartridge left over after bullets or shells have been fired.
5
The color of brass (etymology 1 sense 1).
adj
1
Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.
2
Of the color of brass.
3
Impertinent, bold: brazen.
At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough.
[...] he continued in the same insulting strain. "If you were not quite brass, you would know it is not proper to be making promises you dare not tell of."
4
Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.
Grindoff, the miller, 'and the leader of a very brass band of most unpopular performers, with a thorough base accompaniment of at least fifty vices,' was played by Miss Saunders.
I must confess that to me there is something almost pathetic in the sight of a body of bluejackets improving their muscles on the quarter deck by bar-bell exercise, accompanied by a brass — a very brass — band, [...]
5
Of inferior composition.
As Honest Plush Brannon then, Mr. Beery is one of San Francisco's fancier con men and hence more brass than plush
verb
1
To coat with brass.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a memorial made of brass
noun — the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
brass monkeys
Very cold.
Blimey, it's brass monkeys out there today.
not worth a brass farthing
Worth nothing or next to nothing.
One's own private knowledge of a man's character is not worth a brass farthing as legal evidence.
get down to brass tacks
To (start to) consider or deal with the most important details or facts about something.
He did not wish to delay action, but was ready to vote instanter.—A reference now would amount to a defeat of the memorial. It was better to come right down to the brass and vote.
brass farthing
Something worthless or of small value.
The man, as a matter of fact, under no circumstances, ever cared a brass farthing for what I or anybody else in his ship thought.
Example Bank
601
A few measures later, the brass comes in strong!
Wiktionary02
The brass are not going to like this.
Wiktionary03
The brass is not going to like this.
Wiktionary04
At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough.
Wiktionary05
[...] he continued in the same insulting strain. "If you were not quite brass, you would know it is not proper to be making promises you dare not tell of."
Wiktionary06
It was a show of very large and very brass cojones, [...]
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, brass is marked as informal, slang, obsolete, historical. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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