From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_035_fbrassbrass /brɑːs $ bræs/ ●●○ noun 1 metalMETAL [uncountable]HCM a very hard bright yellow metal that is a mixture of copper and zinc an old brass bedstead2 musicAPM 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 metal3 decorations [countable usually plural]DECORATE an object made of brass, usually with a design cut into it, or several brass objects4 → get down to brass tacks5 → the brass6 → it’s brass monkeys/brass monkey weather7 money [uncountable]MONEY British English old-fashioned informal money → as bold as brass at bold(2)
Examples from the Corpus
brass• a brass bed• Copper vessels and brass fittings are rapidly attacked under these conditions.• It is the heavy brass diamonds upon my window, the security grilles; when did I put them there?• The metal trim on the livery stable was gleaming like molten brass.• She checked the number on the polished brass wall-plaque and knew she had arrived.• The woodwind can only be used for doubling notes which are already present in the brass.• I lifted the brass fender and got to work pulling the crude green tiles away by hand.• Victorian Bell Pulls were traditionally finished with brass end fittings.From Longman Business Dictionarybrassbrass /brɑːsbræs/ noun [uncountable] American English informal the top managers in an organizationSYNTOP BRASSMr Sprey and the Air Force brass clashed continually over major elements of the plane’s design.Origin brass Old English bræs 