brass /brɑːs $ bræs/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bræs ]
1 . METAL [uncountable] a very hard bright yellow metal that is a mixture of ↑ copper and ↑ zinc :
an old brass bedstead
2 . MUSIC
a) [uncountable] musical instruments that are made of metal, such as the ↑ trumpet and the ↑ trombone :
brass instruments
⇨ ↑ percussion , ↑ stringed instrument , ↑ wind instrument , ↑ woodwind
b) the brass (section) the people in an ↑ orchestra or band who play musical instruments that are made of metal
3 . DECORATIONS [countable usually plural] an object made of brass, usually with a design cut into it, or several brass objects
4 . get down to brass tacks informal to start talking about the most important facts or details of something
5 . PEOPLE WITH TOP JOBS the brass American English informal people who hold the most important positions SYN top brass British English
6 . it’s brass monkeys/brass monkey weather British English spoken informal used to say that it is very cold
7 . MONEY [uncountable] British English old-fashioned informal money
⇨ as bold as brass at ↑ bold (2)