brown
brown — adjective
1. showing a shade like wood, coffee, or earth.
showing a shade like wood, coffee, or earth.
Bao chose brown curtains for the room above the bakery.
brown + noun for colour
The horse has a brown back and two white legs.
By August, the garden grass had turned brown in the heat.
I found a brown wallet under the train seat.
文法句型
brown + noun
be/look/turn brown
用法筆記
Regular colour use before a noun and after verbs like 'be', 'look', and 'turn'. Distinguish from noun/1, where the word names the colour itself.
常見錯誤
2. used for skin that is brown by nature or made darker by the sun.
used for skin that is brown by nature or made darker by the sun.
After ten beach days, Yuri came home brown and tired.
be brown after sun exposure
The baby has brown skin like her father.
brown skin
By late summer, the surfers looked brown from the sun.
Leila's arms got brown after long walks in Crete.
- tanned
stresses a darker colour caused by the sun
- sun-browned
more descriptive and less common
- dark-skinned
broader; does not always mean brown specifically
- pale
lighter in skin colour
- fair-skinned
used for naturally light skin
文法句型
be/look brown
brown skin
get brown in the sun
用法筆記
Usually appears after 'be', 'look', or 'get', and it talks about skin rather than clothes or objects. Distinguish from sense 3, which is about identity or communities.
3. relating to people, groups, or culture described as Brown, especially those with
relating to people, groups, or culture described as Brown, especially those with South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Latin American roots.
The exhibit showed work by Brown artists from Delhi and Houston.
Brown + noun for identity or culture
A Brown youth group organized the street festival in Queens.
The film follows Brown families building new lives in Toronto.
Our teacher invited Brown writers to discuss identity and home.
- brown-skinned
describes physical appearance, not identity or culture
- of color
much broader and not limited to Brown communities
- Latinx
fits some US Brown communities, but not South Asian or Middle Eastern ones
文法句型
Brown + noun
Brown people / families / writers
Brown identity / culture
用法筆記
Often written with a capital B when it names identity, culture, or community. Distinguish from sense 2, which describes a person's skin tone rather than a social label.
常見錯誤
brown — noun
1. the colour seen in things like chocolate, coffee, or dry earth.
the colour seen in things like chocolate, coffee, or dry earth.
The artist mixed red and yellow to make a warm brown.
brown as a colour noun
On this map, the mountains are printed in brown.
in brown
The designer chose a soft brown for the living room walls.
The puppy's fur changes from black to brown each summer.
文法句型
shade of brown
in brown
brown and other colours
用法筆記
Usually uncountable for the colour itself, but 'a brown' can mean one particular shade in art, fashion, or design.
常見錯誤
brown — verb
1. to cook food until the surface becomes brown.
to cook food until the surface becomes brown.
Brown the chicken pieces before you add the rice.
recipe instruction: brown + food
Priya browned the onions slowly for the soup.
Let the sausages brown on both sides first.
The cook browned the butter until it smelled sweet.
文法句型
brown something before adding ...
brown in a pan
let something brown
用法筆記
Mostly used in recipes with meat, onions, butter, or other ingredients before the next cooking step. Distinguish from sense 2, which is about any object becoming brown, not specifically food in the kitchen.
2. to become brown in colour, or to change something so it looks brown.
to become brown in colour, or to change something so it looks brown.
Sliced apples brown quickly in warm kitchen air.
intransitive: something browns naturally
By winter, the old photo had browned at the edges.
brown with age
Strong sun browned the lawn by the end of July.
Smoke from the stove browned the ceiling above the sink.
文法句型
brown in the sun
brown with age
brown something with smoke or heat
用法筆記
Common with natural causes such as sun, age, air, smoke, or dry weather. Distinguish from sense 1, which is the kitchen use for cooking food until it browns.