top brass

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word top brass. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word top brass, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say top brass in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word top brass you have here. The definition of the word top brass will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oftop brass, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

Originally military slang, from [the] brass (high-ranking officers).

Pronunciation

Noun

top brass (usually uncountable, plural top brasses)

  1. (collective, colloquial) A group of people who are the leaders or heads of an organization.
    Synonyms: governance, governing body, organisation, administration, establishment
    • 1872, New Zealand Parliament, House of Representatives, “Parliamentary debates”, in 57, volumes 1-6, page 649:
      The top brass of the army are up to various types of mischief and they do not want the public or even Members of Parliament to know about them.
    • 1962 February, “No Talent on the Railways?”, in Modern Railways, page 74:
      The general who turned the tide at Alamein was not, prior to his arrival in the Middle East, one of the very "top brass"; but he was a soldier, not a detergent manufacturer.
    • 2022 January 22, Vincent Ni, “China hires western TikTokers to polish its image during 2022 Winter Olympics”, in The Guardian:
      On 3 January, Republican senator Rick Scott urged in a letter to Newsweek’s top brass to “reconsider its relationship with Vipp Jaswal”.
    • 2022 November 9, “Kherson: Russia to withdraw troops from key Ukrainian city”, in BBC News:
      The military's top brass were seen making the decision on Russian state TV, with Gen Surovikin reporting on the situation on the ground in Kherson.

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams