Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A reduction or cutback in electric power, especially as a result of a shortage, a mechanical failure, or overuse by consumers.
Wiktionary
- n. A period of low alternating current line voltage
- n. Temporary dimming of vision, usually with a brown hue and accompanied by loss of peripheral vision or tunnel vision.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. darkness resulting from the extinction of lights (as in a city invisible to enemy aircraft).
- n. a partial reduction in the amount of electric power available to customers in a region, such as by reduction of voltage or selective cutoff of certain customers; -- it occurs for example in summer when the demand for electricity for air-conditioning exceeds the supply, or when power to certain customers is cut off by a severe storm. It is contrasted with
blackout , which is the total loss of electrical power in a region.
WordNet 3.0
- n. darkness resulting from the extinction of lights (as in a city invisible to enemy aircraft)
Etymologies
- brown + out (Wiktionary)
- brown + (black)out. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Both of those helicopters experiencing what are called brownout conditions, meaning the pilots couldn't see the ground because of all the dust flying in the air as they landed.”
“The helicopters landing in what are called brownout conditions, meaning the dust on the desert floor rises up and engulfs the helicopter.”
“A brownout is a small voltage reduction to conserve power, usually 2% to 8%.”
Simon & Schuster: Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage
“We are told by one official that perhaps it was an accident caused by a problem called brownout, when the helicopter rotor blades kick up dust and debris.”
“A brownout is a service reduction, plain and simple," Bill Gault, president of Local 22, said Tuesday.”
“One of the most dangerous tasks a helicopter pilot faces is landing in what's known as brownout, in which blowing sand obliterates not only the horizon but the landing spot itself.”
“During those last 29 months the Journal-American and Mirror imposed a press "brownout" on McCarthy, occasionally mentioning him in news stories but almost never in columns and editorials.”
“For a City claiming to be so broke we have to "brownout" fire houses, lay off workers, and postpone police recruit classes, the City acts like it has a ton of money to throw away in one bad deal after another.”
“When you can't control City spending, won't stop corporate tax giveaways, and refuse to close tax loopholes, instead opting to "brownout" fire houses, it is only a matter of time before somebody's home or businesss burns down or somebody gets killed.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘brownout’.
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ITRE - energy - general terms
above-market cost, access charge, actual peak load ..., affiliate, affiliated power ..., after-market, aggregation, aggregator, Alternating Curre..., Ampere, ancillary services, annual effects and 453 more...
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brown phrases/words
how brown is used
do brown, to, brown willow, brown ware, brown tubes, brown top, brown-thrasher, brown-tail, brown stout, brown-stone, brown-stemmed, brown-spar, brown snake and 119 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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chromatic phrases
blue movie, brown study, purple prose, rosy scenario, golden mean, eminence grise, white nights, bronze age, silver bullet, orange juice, black death, technicolor yawn and 188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for brownout.
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