brown-nose

[broun-nohz] /ˈbraʊnˌnoʊz/
verb (used without object), brown-nosed, brown-nosing.
1.
to curry favor; behave obsequiously.
verb (used with object), brown-nosed, brown-nosing.
2.
to seek favors from (a person) in an obsequious manner; fawn over.
noun
3.
Also, brown-noser. a toady; sycophant.
Compare ass-kissing.
Origin
1935-40; brown + nose
British Dictionary definitions for brown-nose

brown-nose

verb
1.
to be abjectly subservient (to); curry favour (with)
noun
2.
an abjectly subservient person; sycophant
Word Origin
C20: from the notion that a subservient person kisses the backside of the person with whom he or she is currying favour
Word Origin and History for brown-nose
v.

also brownnose, 1939, American English colloquial, said to be military slang originally, from brown (adj.) + nose (n.), "from the implication that servility is tantamount to having one's nose in the anus of the person from whom advancement is sought" [Webster, 1961]. Related: Brown-noser, brown-nosing (both 1950).

Slang definitions & phrases for brown-nose

brown-nose

noun

also brown-noser: He got there by being a pious and effective brown-nose

verb

To flatter and pamper in order to gain approval and advantage; curry favor; apple-polish: He's just like any other person who's in a position to screw you. You gotta brown nose

[1930s+ Military academy students; fr the color of feces presumably acquired when one has one's nose at the flatteree's anus]