*bras*

n. [ L. abrasio, fr. abradere. See Abrade. ] 1. The act of abrading, wearing, or rubbing off; the wearing away by friction; as, the abrasion of coins. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The substance rubbed off. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) (a) A superficial excoriation of skin or mucous membranes. AS (b) Erosion of the tooth substance AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Producing abrasion. Ure. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Same as Brazen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a magnoliid genus; a genus of dicotyledonous flowering plants regarded as the most primitive of extant angiosperms; alternatively, a member of the family Nymphaeaceae.
Syn. -- genus Brasenia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Cf. Gael. bras or G. barsch harsh, sharp, tart, impetuous, D. barsch, Sw. & Dan. barsk. ] Hasty in temper; impetuous. Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Amer. bresk, brusk, fragile, brittle. ] Brittle, as wood or vegetables. [ Colloq., U. S. ] Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Brash brittle. ] 1. A rash or eruption; a sudden or transient fit of sickness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Refuse boughs of trees; also, the clippings of hedges. [ Prov. Eng. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Geol.) Broken and angular fragments of rocks underlying alluvial deposits. Lyell. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Broken fragments of ice. Kane. [ 1913 Webster ]

Water brash (Med.), an affection characterized by a spasmodic pain or hot sensation in the stomach with a rising of watery liquid into the mouth; pyrosis. --
Weaning brash (Med.), a severe form of diarrhea which sometimes attacks children just weaned. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Resembling, or of the nature of, brash, or broken fragments; broken; crumbly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our progress was not at all impeded by the few soft, brashy floes that we encountered. F. T. Bullen. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. Showery; characterized by brashes, or showers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } n. [ OE. brasiere, F. braise live coals. See Brass. ] An artificer who works in brass. Franklin. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }, n. [ F. brasier, braisíer, fr. braise live coals. See Brass. ] A large metal pan for holding burning coals or charcoal; it is used to warm people who must stay outside for long times. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf. F. brésiline. See 2d Brazil. ] (Chem.) A substance, C16H14O5, extracted from brazilwood as a yellow crystalline powder which is white when pure. It is colored intensely red by alkalies on exposure to the air, being oxidized to C16H12O5, to which brazilwood owes its dyeing properties. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. n. (Geography) The capital city of Brazil, built on the central plateau. Population (2000) = 1, 800, 000.
Syn. -- Brazilian capital. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. ] (Metal.) A paste made by mixing powdered charcoal, coal, or coke with clay, molasses, tar, or other suitable substance. It is used for lining hearths, crucibles, etc. Called also steep. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n.; pl. Brasses [ OE. bras, bres, AS. bræs; 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Coin made of copper, brass, or bronze. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey. Matt. x. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Impudence; a brazen face. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Utensils, ornaments, or other articles of brass. [ 1913 Webster ]

The very scullion who cleans the brasses. Hopkinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. (Mining) Lumps of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, the color of which is near to that of brass. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word brass as used in Sculpture language is a translation for copper or some kind of bronze. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Brass is often used adjectively or in self-explaining compounds; as, brass button, brass kettle, brass founder, brass foundry or brassfoundry. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] A sum formerly levied to pay the expense of coinage; -- now called seigniorage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an armor plate that protects the arm. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. brassard, fr. bras arm. See Brace, n. ] Armor for the arm; -- generally used for the whole arm from the shoulder to the wrist, and consisting, in the 15th and 16th centuries, of many parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of various tropical American orchids with usually solitary fleshy leaves and showy white to green nocturnally fragrant blossoms solitary or in racemes of up to 7. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. inflexibly entrenched; as, brassbound traditions.
Syn. -- ironclad, unchangeable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having trim or fittings of brass; as, a brassbound campaign chest; the heavy brass-bound door. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Perh. a transposition of barse; but cf. LG. brasse the bream, G. brassen Cf. Bream. ] (Zool.) A spotted European fish of the genus Lucioperca, resembling a perch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a small restaurant serving beer and wine as well as food; usually cheap. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Brassart. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a genus of tropical American epiphytic orchids having striking axillary racemes of yellow to green spiderlike flowers with long slender sepals and warty lips; the spider orchids.
Syn. -- genus Brassia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖prop. n. [ L., cabbage. ] (Bot.) A genus of plants embracing several species and varieties differing much in appearance and qualities: such as the common cabbage (Brassica oleracea), broccoli, cauliflowers, etc.; the wild turnip (Brassica campestris); the common turnip (Brassica rapa); the rape or coleseed (Brassica napus), etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a natural family of plants with four-petaled flowers.
Syn. -- Cruciferae, family Cruciferae, family Brassicaceae, mustard family. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ L. brassica cabbage. ] (Bot.) Related to, or resembling, the cabbage, or plants of the Cabbage family. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. formerly a golfing wood with a face more elevated that a driver but less than a spoon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F. ] A form of woman's undergarment, often stiffened with wire or whalebones, or the like, and worn to cover and support the breasts; -- also called bra. It usually has straps which support it from the shoulders, but strapless variants are also made.
Syn. -- bra, bandeau. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The state, condition, or quality of being brassy. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. resembling the sound of a brass instrument.
Syn. -- brassy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having an appearance resembling that of brass.
Syn. -- brassy. [ PJC ]

a. Impudent; bold. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Of or pertaining to brass; having the nature, appearance, or hardness, of brass. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Impudent; impudently bold. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also brassie and brassey. ] (Golf) A wooden club soled with brass. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. & i. [ See Burst. ] To burst. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And both his yën braste out of his face. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dreadfull furies which their chains have brast. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of linen cloth made in Egypt, and so named from its resemblance to cambric. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Embrace. ] An embrace. [ Obs. ] “Our locked embrasures.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. embraser, perh. equiv. to ébraser to widen an opening; of unknown origin. ] 1. (Arch.) A splay of a door or window. [ 1913 Webster ]

Apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure,
Sat the lovers. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Fort.) An aperture with slant sides in a wall or parapet, through which cannon are pointed and discharged; a crenelle. See Illust. of Casemate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Similar to, or in the style of, the poem “Hudibras, ” by Samuel Butler; in the style of doggerel verse. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ L. labrum; cf. It. labbro, pl. labbra. ] Lips. [ Obs. & R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A resident of the state of Nebraska.
Syn. -- Cornhusker. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ } n. An idle, ragged person. Nares. Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A subsoil made up of small stones or finely-broken rock; brash. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. avant fore + bras arm: cf. F. brassard armor for the arm, brace, forearm. Cf. Vambrace. ] (Anc. Armor) Armor for the arm; vambrace. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]