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BRASS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A wind instrument that consists of a brass tube (usually of variable length) that is blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece
Synonyms:
brass; brass instrument
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
wind; wind instrument (a musical instrument in which the sound is produced by an enclosed column of air that is moved by bellows or the human breath)
Meronyms (parts of "brass"):
valve (device in a brass wind instrument for varying the length of the air column to alter the pitch of a tone)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brass"):
baritone; baritone horn (the second lowest brass wind instrument)
bass horn; sousaphone; tuba (the lowest brass wind instrument)
bugle (a brass instrument without valves; used for military calls and fanfares)
clarion (a medieval brass instrument with a clear shrill tone)
cornet; horn; trump; trumpet (a brass musical instrument with a brilliant tone; has a narrow tube and a flared bell and is played by means of valves)
fluegelhorn; flugelhorn (a brass instrument resembling a cornet but with a wider bore)
French horn; horn (a brass musical instrument consisting of a conical tube that is coiled into a spiral and played by means of valves)
saxhorn (any of a family of brass wind instruments that resemble a bugle with valves)
trombone (a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a U-shaped slide)
Derivation:
brassy (resembling the sound of a brass instrument)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A memorial made of brass
Synonyms:
brass; memorial tablet; plaque
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
memorial; monument (a structure erected to commemorate persons or events)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An ornament or utensil made of brass
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
decoration; ornament; ornamentation (something used to beautify)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Impudent aggressiveness
Example:
he had the effrontery to question my honesty
Synonyms:
boldness; brass; cheek; face; nerve
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
aggressiveness (the quality of being bold and enterprising)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brass"):
audaciousness; audacity (aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery)
Derivation:
brassy (unrestrained by convention or propriety)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something
Example:
he quickly became recognized as a member of the establishment
Synonyms:
administration; brass; establishment; governance; governing body; organisation; organization
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
body (a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity)
Meronyms (parts of "brass"):
hierarchy; pecking order; power structure (the organization of people at different ranks in an administrative body)
Meronyms (members of "brass"):
advisory board; planning board (a board appointed to advise the chief administrator)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brass"):
management (those in charge of running a business)
government officials; officialdom (people elected or appointed to administer a government)
county council (the elected governing body of a county)
bench; judiciary (persons who administer justice)
executive (persons who administer the law)
top brass (the most important persons in a governing body)
Curia ((Roman Catholic Church) the central administration governing the Roman Catholic Church)
Holonyms ("brass" is a part of...):
authorities; government; regime (the organization that is the governing authority of a political unit)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments
Synonyms:
brass; brass section
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
section (a division of an orchestra containing all instruments of the same class)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brass"):
trumpet section (the section of a band or orchestra that plays trumpets or cornets)
Derivation:
brassy (resembling the sound of a brass instrument)
Sense 7
Meaning:
An alloy of copper and zinc
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("brass" is a kind of...):
copper-base alloy (any alloy whose principal component is copper)
Meronyms (substance of "brass"):
atomic number 29; copper; Cu (a ductile malleable reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brass"):
alpha-beta brass; Muntz metal; yellow metal (a brass that has more zinc and is stronger than alpha brass; used in making castings and hot-worked products)
alpha brass (an alloy of brass and zinc; used mainly for cold working)
bearing brass (a brass bushing or a lining for a bearing)
cartridge brass (an alloy of copper and zinc (containing about 30% zinc) that is wrought into cartridges or tubing)
gilding metal (a brass that is rich in copper; used to make articles that were to be gilded)
high brass (brass with 35% zinc)
latten (brass (or a yellow alloy resembling brass) that was hammered into thin sheets; formerly used for church utensils)
low brass (brass with 30% (or less) zinc)
ormolu (brass that looks like gold; used to decorate furniture)
guinea gold; red brass (brass with enough copper to give it a reddish tint; used for plumbing pipe and other brass hardware and in cheap jewelry)
Context examples:
A case of cartridges had been shattered into matchwood, and one of the brass shells lay shredded into pieces beside it.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The want of house or brass (by which I suppose you mean money) does not make a beggar in your sense of the word.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Even on Sunday, when it veiled its more florid charms and lay comparatively empty of passage, the street shone out in contrast to its dingy neighbourhood, like a fire in a forest; and with its freshly painted shutters, well-polished brasses, and general cleanliness and gaiety of note, instantly caught and pleased the eye of the passenger.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The tomb in the day-time, and when wreathed with fresh flowers, had looked grim and gruesome enough; but now, some days afterwards, when the flowers hung lank and dead, their whites turning to rust and their greens to browns; when the spider and the beetle had resumed their accustomed dominance; when time-discoloured stone, and dust-encrusted mortar, and rusty, dank iron, and tarnished brass, and clouded silver-plating gave back the feeble glimmer of a candle, the effect was more miserable and sordid than could have been imagined.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
That a proper quantity of this powder rammed into a hollow tube of brass or iron, according to its bigness, would drive a ball of iron or lead, with such violence and speed, as nothing was able to sustain its force.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Peering in, we could see that the only light in the room came from a dull blue flame which flickered from a small brass tripod in the centre.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was now gaining rapidly on the schooner; I could see the brass glisten on the tiller as it banged about, and still no soul appeared upon her decks.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Alleyne sat down willingly as directed with two great bundles on either side of him which contained the strollers' dresses—doublets of flame-colored silk and girdles of leather, spangled with brass and tin.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We found the brass box there, although its contents had been destroyed.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She brought with her two uncompromising hard black boxes, with her initials on the lids in hard brass nails.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
