brass

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc, sometimes including small amounts of other metals, but usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc.
• noun Ornaments, objects, or utensils made of this alloy.
• noun The section of a band or an orchestra composed of brass instruments.
• noun Brass instruments or their players considered as a group.
• noun A memorial plaque or tablet made of brass, especially one on which an effigy is incised.
• noun A bushing or similar lining for a bearing, made from a copper alloy.
• noun Informal Bold self-assurance; effrontery.
• noun Slang High-ranking military officers or other high officials.
• noun Chiefly British Money.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To cover or coat over with brass.
• noun Nautical, same as brace.
• noun A continental European measure of length, equal to the extended arms or more; a fathom.
• noun An important alloy, consisting essentially of copper and zinc.
• noun A utensil, ornament, or other article made of brass: as, to clean the brasses on board a ship.
• noun In machinery, a pillow, bearing, collar, box, or bush, supporting a gudgeon: so called because frequently made of brass.
• noun In medieval archœol., a funeral monument consisting of a plate of brass, usually of rectangular shape and often of large size, incised with an effigy, coats of arms, inscriptions, and frequently accessory ornament.
• noun A brass musical instrument, or, collectively, the brass instruments in a band or an orchestra.
• noun Money.
• noun In coal-mining, iron pyrites.
• noun Excessive assurance; impudence; brazenness: as, he has brass enough for anything.
• Made or composed of brass; pertaining to or resembling brass; brazen; brassy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun 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.
• noun (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.
• noun obsolete Coin made of copper, brass, or bronze.
• noun colloq. Impudence; a brazen face.
• noun Utensils, ornaments, or other articles of brass.
• noun 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.
• noun (Mining) Lumps of pyrites or sulphuret of iron, the color of which is near to that of brass.
• noun (Mus.) a band of musicians who play upon wind instruments made of brass, as trumpets, cornets, etc.
• noun brass made into very thin sheets; -- called also Dutch gold.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun uncountable, slang Brass in pocket; money.
• noun countable, slang A brass nail; a prostitute.
• adjective slang Brass monkey; cold.
• noun uncountable A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
• noun countable, music A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound.
• noun Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired.
• noun uncountable The colour of brass.
• noun uncountable, military High-ranking officers.
• noun uncountable, informal A brave or foolhardy attitude.
• noun slang, dated Money.
• noun Inferior composition.
• adjective Of the colour of brass.
• adjective informal Impertinent, bold: brazen.
• adjective slang Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.
• adjective Of inferior composition.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments