brownish
168
poet, married to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose poems
include The Ring and The Book and Home Thoughts from
Abroad
brown·ish /'braunIʃ/ adj slightly brown
'brown·nose n AmE slang someone who tries to win favour by
insincere means: Ted's a real brown-nose. —brown-nose v
[I;T] brown-nosing around the boss
brown·out /'braunaʊt/ n AmE a cut in power to some but not
all electric lights in an area
Brown 'Owl n (usually caps) a woman leader of a group of
BROWNIE GUIDES: Ask Brown Owl if we can go.
brown 'paper n [U] a strong brown-coloured kind of paper,
used for wrapping parcels
brown 'rice n [U] unpolished rice which still has its outer
covering, which is considered to be more healthy than
white rice
brown·stone /'braunstəʊn/ n a house with a front of soft
reddish-brown stone, common in New York City -> see
colour photo on page A41
Brown v. Board of Ed·u·ca·tion of To·pe·ka /braun
vɜ:səs ˌbɔ:d əv ˌedʒuˌkeIʃən əv tə'pi:kəlˌvɜ:səs ˌbɔ:d əv
edʒə-/ also Brown vs 'Board, 'Brown decision a US
legal case which resulted in a famous decision by the US
Supreme Court in 1954. It was decided that African-American
students should be allowed to attend the same schools and
universities as white students, and this officially ended SEG-
REGATION in the US education system. Following this, some
children were taken by bus to different schools in order to
mix African-American and white students. -> see also BUS-
ING, CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, PLESSEY V. FERGUSON, SEGREGA-
TION
browse /braʊz/ v [I] 1 [(through)] to look through or read
parts of a book, magazine etc without any clear purpose,
especially for enjoyment: to browse through/among some-
one's books | I spent hours browsing in the bookshop. 2 to
feed on young plants, grass etc: cows browsing in the fields
—browse n S[(through)] I had a browse through the books on
her shelf
brows·er /'braʊzər/ n a computer PROGRAM that finds infor-
mation from the Internet and shows it on your computer
screen -> compare SEARCH ENGINE
Bru·beck, Dave /'bru:bek, deIv/ (1920-) an American JAZZ
musician, piano player, and COMPOSER. He is especially
known for the song Take Five (1959).
Bruce, Len·ny /'bru:s, 'leni/ (1926-66) a US COMEDIAN who is
remembered for making jokes about subjects such as sex and
race. Some people were shocked by his jokes and the
language he used, and this sometimes got him into trouble
with the police.
Bruce, Rob·ert (the) /'rɒbət'l'ra:bərt/ (1274-1329) the King
of Scotland from 1307 till his death. Scotland was recog-
nized as independent under him in 1328. The story that
most people know about Robert the Bruce is that he
watched a SPIDER showing determination, which encour-
aged him to do the same.
bru·cel·lo·sis /ˌbru:sə'ləʊsəs/ n [U] a serious disease of
people and cattle, caused by a bacterium
Brue·gel, Pie·ter, Brueghel or Breughel /'brɔIɡəl,
'pi:tər/ (?1525-69) a Flemish painter of LANDSCAPES and ordi-
nary people, also known as Bruegel the Elder. His sons Pieter
(Bruegel the Younger) and Jan were also painters.
bruise¹ /bru:z/ n a mark caused by a blow or fall, resulting in
discolouring of the skin of a human, animal, or fruit but not
breaking of the skin: It was a bad accident, but she escaped
with minor cuts and bruises.
bruise² v 1 [T] to cause a bruise on: She fell and bruised her
knee. | a bruised apple | (fig.) bruised feelings/pride 2 [I] to
show a bruise: Her skin bruises easily.
bruis·er /'bru:zər/ n infml a big strong man who likes fighting
bruis·ing /'bru:zIŋ/ adj difficult and unpleasant, and leaving
you feeling tired or emotionally harmed: a bruising contest
bruit /bru:t/ v
bruit sthg. <-> abroad/about phr v [T+that] fml or pomp to
spread (news) everywhere: It's been bruited abroad that
you're going to get married.
Brum /brʌm/ BrE infml BIRMINGHAM
Brum·mell, Beau /'brʌməl/ (1778-1840) an English DANDY
(=a man who is very interested in clothes and likes to be
very fashionable), who was a friend of George IV before he
became king
Brum·mie /'brʌmi/ n BrE infml a person from BIRMINGHAM
—Brummie adj: a Brummie accent
brunch /brʌntʃ/ n [C;U] infml, especially AmE a meal, usually
taken in the middle of the morning, that combines a late
breakfast and an early LUNCH
Bru-nei /bru:'naI, 'bru:naI/ a country in the northwest of
the island of Borneo in East Asia, which is under British
protection and became an independent member of the COM-
MONWEALTH in 1984. Population: 358,098 (2003). Capital:
Bandar Seri Begawan. It is a rich oil-producing country, and
its ruler, the Sultan of Brunei, is known as being one of the
richest people in the world.
Bru-nel, Is·am·bard
King·dom
/bru:'nel,
'Izəmbɑ:d
'kIŋdəm |
-bɑ:rd-/ (1806-59) an English
engineer famous for his rail-
way engines, bridges, and
iron ships
bru·nette || also brunet AmE
/bru:'net/ n a woman of a
fair-skinned race with dark
hair -> compare BLOND
Brun·hil·de /brun'hIldə/ a
character in the Ring of the
Nibelung who is a PRINCESS.
She is usually shown as a
large strong fair-haired
woman in ARMOUR, whose
face shows proud determina-
tion.
Bru-no, Frank /'bru:nəʊ/ (1961-) a British BOXER from
London who was the WBC world CHAMPION from September
1995 to March 1996. He is still popular with a lot of British
people and often appeared on television and acted in
PANTOMIMES. He is known for his friendly manner and for
often saying 'You know what I mean, Harry' when he was
talking on television to the boxing COMMENTATOR Harry
Carpenter.
brunt /brʌnt/ n [the S (of)] the main or most damaging part of
(an attack): The brunt of her argument was directed at the
trade union leader. | I had to bear the brunt of his anger.
brush
hairbrush
toothbrush
nailbrush
scrubbing brush
paintbrushes
brush/broom
brush¹ /brʌʃ/ n 1 [C] (often in comb.) an instrument for clean-
ing, smoothing, or painting, made from lengths of stic
Isambard Kingdom Brunel