as bold as brass


as bold as brass

In a brash, arrogant, or pushy manner. Can you believe that new hire went to the boss, as bold as brass, and asked for time off on his first day? That girl walked up, as bold as brass, and pushed her way to the front of the line!See also: bold, brass

*bold as brass

very bold; bold to the point of rudeness. (*Also: as ~.) Lisa marched into the manager's office, bold as brass, and demanded her money back. The tiny kitten, as bold as brass, began eating the dog's food right under the dog's nose.See also: bold, brass

bold as brass

Shameless, audacious, impudent. For example, No one had invited her to the wedding, but she showed up at the church, bold as brass. This alliterative simile plays on brass meaning "shamelessness." [c. 1700] See also: bold, brass

bold as brass

INFORMALIf someone does something bold as brass, they do it without being ashamed or embarrassed. Their leader, bold as brass, came improperly dressed, wearing a lounge suit while all the others were wearing black ties. Barry has come into the game bold as brass, brash and businesslike. Note: This expression may be based on an incident that occurred in Britain in 1770, when the newspaper the London Evening Post illegally published a report of Parliamentary proceedings. As a result, the printer was put in prison. The Lord Mayor, Brass Crosby, released him and was punished by being imprisoned himself. There were public protests and Crosby was soon released. See also: bold, brass

as bold as brass

confident to the point of impudence. Brass is used in this phrase as a metaphorical representation of a lack of shame, as it was in the old expression a brass face , meaning ‘an impudent person’.See also: bold, brass

(as) bold as ˈbrass

(British English, informal) without seeming ashamed or embarrassed; very cheeky: He came up to me, bold as brass, and asked me for five pounds.See also: bold, brass

bold as brass

Shameless, impudent. This simile probably has the same source as brazen, which can mean either “made of brass” or “shameless,” “too bold.” The latter is older, dating at least from Shakespeare’s time (“What a brazen-faced varlet art thou!” King Lear, 2.2). The present cliché dates from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, although brass alone in the sense of “shameless” is older (sixteenth century). “Can any face of brass hold longer out?” wrote Shakespeare in Love’s Labour’s Lost (5.2), and Thomas Fuller (The Profane State, 1642) wrote still more explicitly, “His face is of brasse, which may be said either ever or never to blush.”See also: bold, brass