Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

brass       (brās)  Pronunciation Key  n.   A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc. Ornaments, objects, or utensils made of this alloy. The section of a band or an orchestra composed of brass instruments. Often used in the plural. Brass instruments or their players considered as a group. Often used in the plural. Music The section of a band or an orchestra composed of brass instruments. Often used in the plural. Brass instruments or their players considered as a group. Often used in the plural. A memorial plaque or tablet made of brass, especially one on which an effigy is incised. A bushing or similar lining for a bearing, made from a copper alloy. Informal Bold self-assurance; effrontery. Slang High-ranking military officers or other high officials. Chiefly British Money. [Middle English bras, from Old English bræs.] brass adj.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
brass 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

brass
noun
1.	an alloy of copper and zinc
2.	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
3.	the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something; "he claims that the present administration is corrupt"; "the governance of an association is responsible to its members"; "he quickly became recognized as a member of the establishment" [syn: administration]
4.	impudent aggressiveness; "I couldn't believe her boldness"; "he had the effrontery to question my honesty" [syn: boldness]
5.	an ornament or utensil made of brass
6.	the section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments [syn: brass section]
7.	a memorial made of brass

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

brass

In addition to the idioms beginning with brass, also see bold as brass; double in brass; get down to brass tacks.

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

brass       (brās)  Pronunciation Key  A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc. It sometimes includes small amounts of other metals. Brass is strong, ductile, and resistant to many forms of corrosion.

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
brass

Musical instruments traditionally made of brass and played by blowing directly into a small, cup-shaped mouthpiece. They include the French horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba.

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Brass Castle, NJ (CDP, FIPS 7360) Location: 40.76083 N, 75.01219 W
Population (1990): 1419 (493 housing units)
Area: 7.6 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Brass

Brass\, n.; pl. Brasses. [OE. bras, bres, AS. br[ae]s; akin to Icel. bras cement, solder, brasa to harden by fire, and to E. braze, brazen. Cf. 1st & 2d Braze.]

1. An alloy (usually yellow) of copper and zinc, in variable proportion, but often containing two parts of copper to one part of zinc. It sometimes contains tin, and rarely other metals.

2. (Mach.) A journal bearing, so called because frequently made of brass. A brass is often lined with a softer metal, when the latter is generally called a white metal lining. See Axle box, Journal Box, and Bearing.

3. Coin made of copper, brass, or bronze. [Obs.]

Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey. --Matt. x. 9.

4. Impudence; a brazen face. [Colloq.]

5. pl. Utensils, ornaments, or other articles of brass.

The very scullion who cleans the brasses. --Hopkinson.

6. A brass plate engraved with a figure or device. Specifically, one used as a memorial to the dead, and generally having the portrait, coat of arms, etc.

7. pl. (Mining) Lumps of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, the color of which is near to that of brass.

Note: The word brass as used in Sculpture language is a translation for copper or some kind of bronze.

Note: Brass is often used adjectively or in self-explaining compounds; as, brass button, brass kettle, brass founder, brass foundry or brassfoundry.

Brass band (Mus.), a band of musicians who play upon wind instruments made of brass, as trumpets, cornets, etc.

Brass foil, Brass leaf, brass made into very thin sheets; -- called also Dutch gold.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Brass

which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2 Kings 25:7), for pieces of armour (1 Sam. 17:5, 6), for musical instruments (1 Chr. 15:19; 1 Cor. 13:1), and for money (Matt. 10:9). It is a symbol of insensibility and obstinacy in sin (Isa. 48:4; Jer. 6:28; Ezek. 22:18), and of strength (Ps. 107:16; Micah 4:13). The Macedonian empire is described as a kingdom of brass (Dan. 2:39). The "mountains of brass" Zechariah (6:1) speaks of have been supposed to represent the immutable decrees of God. The serpent of brass was made by Moses at the command of God (Num. 21:4-9), and elevated on a pole, so that it might be seen by all the people when wounded by the bite of the serpents that were sent to them as a punishment for their murmurings against God and against Moses. It was afterwards carried by the Jews into Canaan, and preserved by them till the time of Hezekiah, who caused it to be at length destroyed because it began to be viewed by the people with superstitious reverence (2 Kings 18:4). (See NEHUSHTAN.) The brazen serpent is alluded to by our Lord in John 3:14, 15. (See SERPENT.)