brown study
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of brown study
First recorded in 1525–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The Potato Eaters,” the large, mostly brown study of peasants at a humble meal that scholars consider Vincent’s first masterpiece, was hung above the fireplace.
From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2021
Most people spend between 30 and 47 percent of their waking hours spacing out, drifting off, lost in thought, woolgathering, in a brown study or building castles in the air.
From Scientific American • Aug. 22, 2014
The Department of Agriculture came out of a brown study and announced its June estimates for 1925 grain crops.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The helm station is quite handsome, a brown study in leather and hardwood.
From Time Magazine Archive
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He was doubtless wrapped up in a brown study, and, recalling some amusing episode, indulged in laughter without realizing his surroundings.
From Abraham Lincoln, Volume 2 (of 2) The True Story of a Great Life by Herndon, William H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.