different between brass vs nerve

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b???s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /b?æs/
• Rhymes: -??s, -æs

Etymology 1

From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), origin uncertain. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *bras? (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small made fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”).

In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.

Noun

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

1. (uncountable) A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
   1. A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten
   2. Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass
2. (music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; the section of an orchestra that features such instruments
3. Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired.
4. (uncountable) The colour of brass.

6. (military, uncountable, used as a singular or plural noun, metonymically) High-ranking officers.

7. (uncountable, informal) A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence.

8. (slang, dated) Money.
9. Inferior composition.

Derived terms

References

• “brass”, in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary, (Please provide a date or year).
• “brass, noun.”, in OED Online ?, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000

Translations

Adjective

brass (comparative more brass, superlative most brass)

1. Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.
2. Of the colour of brass.
3. (informal) Impertinent, bold: brazen.
   • 1869, Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, 1637-1638, edited by John Bruce, page 147:

     At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough.

   • 1996 May 24, 2:00 am, Sherman Simpson, Want license key for AGENT FOR WINDOWS95, alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent:

     Maybe (probably so), but it's rare someone is brass enough to post a msg for all to see asking for a software key, that the vast majority have paid for in support of the development effort.

   • 2000 Aug 18, 2:00 am, David Ryan, strangest bid retraction /illegal lottery NOT, rec.collecting.coins:

     After cornering the dutch auction, the seller was brass enough to send him the whole lot without one.

   • 2000 Aug 19, 3:00 am, n4mwd, for RMB, alt.support.anxiety-panic:

     Try to keep in mind that not all of his converts are brass enough to challenge the benzo pushers in this group, [...]

4. (slang) Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.
   • 1888, Mr. & Mrs. Bancroft on and off the stage: written by themselves, volume 1, page 90:

     Grindoff, the miller, 'and the leader of a very brass band of most unpopular performers, with a thorough base accompaniment of at least fifty vices,' was played by Miss Saunders.

   • 1900, The Training of Seamen, published in The Saturday Review, 3 November 1900, volume 90, number 2349, page 556:

     I must confess that to me there is something almost pathetic in the sight of a body of bluejackets improving their muscles on the quarter deck by bar-bell exercise, accompanied by a brass — a very brass — band, [...]

   • 1908, The Smith Family, published in Punch, March 4 1908, bound in Punch vol. CXXXIV, page 168:

     Mr. REGINALD SMITH, KC, the publisher, followed, but he had hardly begun his very interesting remarks when a procession headed by a very brass band entered Smithfield from the west, and approached the platform.

   • 1929, Philippine Magazine, volume 6, page 27

     The padre in my neighborhood — Santa Ana — was having some kind of a fiesta, and had hired a very brass band. This band kept up its martial airs for hours and hours after I got home, with grand finales — or what each time I hoped would be the grand finale, every five minutes.

5. Of inferior composition.

Translations

Verb

brass (third-person singular simple present brasses, present participle brassing, simple past and past participle brassed)

1. (transitive) To coat with brass.

Derived terms

• brass up

Translations

Related terms

• braze
• brazen
• brazier

Etymology 2

By ellipsis from "brass nail," in turn from "nail[ing]" (fig.) and "brass blonde" (see "brazen").

Noun

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

1. (countable, slang) A brass nail; a prostitute.
   • 1996, Will Self, The Sweet Smell of Psychosis, Bloomsbury 2011, p. 2:

     Richard didn't want the man on the corner to go up and fuck one of the brasses.

Adjective

brass

1. (slang) Brass monkey; cold.

See also

• althorn
• chalcography
• cornet
• euphonium
• flugelhorn
• French horn
• mellophone
• Muntz metal
• saxhorn
• sousaphone
• trombone
• trumpet
• tuba
• Appendix:Colors

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2021) , “Brass”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database
• “brass”, in Mindat.org?^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pras?/
• Rhymes: -as?

Noun

brass n (genitive singular brass, no plural)

1. (music, slang) brass

Declension

English

Etymology

Recorded since circa 1374, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”). Doublet of neuron and sinew.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /n?v/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• (NYC) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /n??v/
• Rhymes: -??(?)v

Noun

nerve (plural nerves)

1. A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics.

   Hyponyms: see Thesaurus:nerve

2. (nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron.
3. (botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood

4. Courage, boldness.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:courage

   • 2013, Daniel Taylor, Jack Wilshere scores twice to ease Arsenal to victory over Marseille (in The Guardian, 26 November 2013)[2]

     A trip to the whistling, fire-cracking Stadio San Paolo is always a test of nerve but Wenger's men have already outplayed the Italians once.

5. Patience.

6. Stamina, endurance, fortitude.
7. Audacity, gall.

   Synonyms: brashness, brazenness, balls; see also Thesaurus:courage
8. (polymer technology) The elastic resistance of raw rubber or other polymers to permanent deformation during processing.

   A nervy tank lining will be difficult to lay around tight bends or in corners because it tends to spring back.

   • 1959, Newell A Perry, Eric O Ridgway, US patent US2870103 A[3]

     The nerviness (ability to recover quickly from strain or stretching) ... generally requires it to be broken down or masticated on the mill before the other compounding ingredients are added. In the break-down operation, heat is inherently generated by the sheer action of the milling or mixing equipment on the polymer. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain the desired low temperatures during the milling or mixing... An object of this invention is to reduce the inherent nerve of ... polymers ... during break-down.

9. (in the plural) Agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotion.

10. (obsolete) Sinew, tendon.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 1 scene 2

      Come on; obey: / Thy nerves are in their infancy again, / And have no vigour in them.

    • 1725, Alexander Pope. Pope's Homer: Odyssey Book X [4]

      Whilst thus their fury rages at the bay,
      My sword our cables cut, I call'd to weigh,
      And charg'd my men, as they from fate would fly,
      Each nerve to strain, each bending oar to ply.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

nerve (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved)

1. (transitive) To give courage.

   May their example nerve us to face the enemy.

2. (transitive) To give strength; to supply energy or vigour.

   The liquor nerved up several of the men after their icy march.

Usage notes

• Sometimes used with “up”.

Synonyms

• (give strength): See also Thesaurus:strengthen

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Verne, erven, never

Dutch

Noun

nerve f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)

1. Obsolete form of nerf.

Anagrams

• erven, reven, veren

French

Verb

nerve

1. first-person singular present indicative of nerver
2. third-person singular present indicative of nerver
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of nerver
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of nerver
5. second-person singular imperative of nerver

German

Pronunciation

Verb

nerve

1. inflection of nerven:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Latin

Noun

nerve

1. vocative singular of nervus

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (neûron), and Latin nervus

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nerver, definite plural nervene)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

“nerve” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ?????? (neûron), and Latin nervus

Noun

nerve m (definite singular nerven, indefinite plural nervar, definite plural nervane)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• isjiasnerve
• nervecelle
• nervesystem

References

• “nerve” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.