Browning

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. Browning, Elizabeth Barrett 1806-1861. British poet. Overcoming ill health and the jealous objections of her tyrannical father, she eloped to Italy with Robert Browning and married him in 1846. Her greatest work, Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850), is a sequence of love poems written to her husband.
2. Browning, John Moses 1855-1926. American firearms inventor whose designs include repeating rifles, automatic pistols, and a machine gun dubbed "the Peacemaker” that was used in the Spanish-American War and adapted for aerial warfare in World War I.
3. Browning, Robert 1812-1889. British poet best known for dramatic monologues such as "My Last Duchess,” "Fra Lippo Lippi,” and "The Bishop Orders His Tomb.” His work, including his masterpiece, The Ring and the Book (1868-1869), explored new ways of using diction and poetic rhythm.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of making brown. Specifically, the process of darkening the polished surfaces of gun-barrels and other metallic objects. Chlorid or butter of antimony, called bronzing-salt, is used in the process.
2. n. A preparation of sugar, port wine, spices, etc., for coloring and flavoring meat and made dishes.
3. n. In plastering, the second coat. The first coat, called the scratch coat, is generally deeply scored to receive and hold the browning.
4. n. In botany, the discoloration which takes place in vegetable cells when they are injured, as by cutting. It is probably due to chemical changes.

Wiktionary

1. n. A surname.
2. n. In Europe, a small, semi-automatic handgun. For the first half-century of their manufacturer, the majority of semi-automatic handguns in Europe were designed by John M. Browning.
3. n. Robert Browning, a poet.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act or operation of giving a brown color, as to gun barrels, etc.
2. n. (Masonry) A smooth coat of brown mortar, usually the second coat, and the preparation for the finishing coat of plaster.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. United States inventor of firearms (especially automatic pistols and repeating rifles and a machine gun called the Peacemaker) (1855-1926)
2. n. English poet and husband of Elizabeth Barrett Browning noted for his dramatic monologues (1812-1889)
3. n. English poet best remembered for love sonnets written to her husband Robert Browning (1806-1861)
4. n. cooking to a brown crispiness over a fire or on a grill