brown up
The term "brown up" has various meanings based on the context, from cooking and tanning to acting and sycophancy.
Definition
B2Cooking
(literal)To cook or heat food until it turns a brown color.
Example
- She browned up the onions to add more flavor to the dish.
B2Appearance
(literal)To tan or darken the skin through exposure to the sun or artificial means.
Example
- After spending a week at the beach, he had really browned up.
C1Acting
(controversial)To apply makeup to lighten or darken an actor's skin for a role.
Example
- The director decided to brown up the actor for the historical role.
C1Botany
(technical)To turn the stem of a plant brown, typically as a result of applying herbicide.
Example
- The gardener noticed the Phragmites had browned up after treatment.
C1Colloquial
(informal, Caribbean)To act overly subservient or flattering towards someone to gain favor.
Example
- Everyone could see he was just browning up to the boss to get a promotion.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "brown up":
brown goodsgolden brownbrown stewbrown breadbroil upbrown spotbrown powerroast upbrown sugardarken upbrown saucehash browncolor upbruise upbutch upbrew uptoast upmummy brownsaddle brownbull uppink upbrown eyestew upburn upbuff up