browns

Noun

brown (countable and uncountable, plural browns)

1. A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
   • The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.
2. (countable) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
3. (uncountable) Black tar heroin.
4. (archaic, countable, slang) A copper coin.
   • “To save a journey up the town, / A razor lent here for a brown: / But if you think the price too high, / I beg you won’t the razor try.”1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861
5. A brown horse or other animal.
   • […] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.1877, George Nevile, Horses and Riding, page 105
6. (capitalized, countable, ethnic, informal, slur, sometimes) A person of mostly Latin American (or Latino), Middle Eastern/North African, South Asian, and sometimes Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or rarely Native American descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto, or biracial appearance.
   • Many browns and blacks are immigrants — some of whom have not yet become naturalized citizens of the United States.2005, Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: Racism Hiding in Plain Sight

See all 35 meanings of brown