brown-nose verb - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of brown-nose verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

brown-nose

verb

[intransitive, transitive] (informal) (disapproving) brown-nose (somebody)Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they brown-nose

he / she / it brown-noses

past simple brown-nosed

-ing form brown-nosing

to treat someone in authority with special respect in order to make them approve of you or treat you better He got that promotion by brown-nosing.

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See brown-nose in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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