brown-nose

  

brown-nose

[broun-nohz] verb, brown-nosed, brown-nos·ing, noun Slang.
verb (used without object)
1.
to curry favor; behave obsequiously.
verb (used with object)
2.
to seek favors from (a person) in an obsequious manner; fawn over.
noun
3.
Also, brown-nos·er. a toady; sycophant.
Compare ass-kissing.

Origin:
1935–40; brown + nose

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
brown-nose
 
—vb
1.  to be abjectly subservient (to); curry favour (with)
 
—n
2.  an abjectly subservient person; sycophant
 
[C20: from the notion that a subservient person kisses the backside of the person with whom he or she is currying favour]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Brown-nose is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

brown-nose
also brownnose, 1939, Amer.Eng. colloquial, said to be military slang originally, from brown + nose, "from the implication that servility is tantamount to having one's nose in the anus of the person from whom advancement is sought" [Webster, 1961]. Related: Brown-noser, brown-nosing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

brown-nose definition


  1. n.
    and brownie; brown-noser. a sycophant; one who flatters for self-serving motives. : You are just a plain old brown-nose. , Will some brown-noser please try to get the teacher to put off the test?
  2. tv. & in.
    to curry favor with someone; to be a sycophant. : Don keeps brown-nosing, and the professor pretends not to notice.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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