brawn
Americannoun
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strong, well-developed muscles.
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muscular strength.
- Synonyms:
- power, might, sturdiness, muscle, robustness, brawniness
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Chiefly British.
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a boar's or swine's flesh, especially when boiled and pickled.
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noun
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strong well-developed muscles
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physical strength, esp as opposed to intelligence
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a seasoned jellied loaf made from the head and sometimes the feet of a pig or calf
Etymology
Origin of brawn
1275–1325; Middle English brawne < Old French braon slice of flesh ( Provençal bradon ) < Germanic; compare German Braten joint of meat, akin to Old English brǣd flesh
Explanation
Brawn means muscular strength. Brawn is thought of as the opposite of brains, but let’s face it — people can be strong and smart! No matter how smart you are, though, you must have big muscles to have brawn. The word brawn is from the Old French word braon, which means “fleshy or muscular part,” referring to a part of an animal that people cook and eat. British English still uses brawn to mean meat, headcheese in particular. In American English, brawn refers to strength and heft. You may also have heard the adjective brawny, meaning strong and muscular.
Vocabulary lists containing brawn
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Outsiders
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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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.
It was not all brawn for Brook, who regularly played deft guides to third man.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
The bottleneck to robot growth might not be the brains but the brawn.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
The demand for American-style brawn led China’s Great Wall Motor to roll out a new gasoline-powered V-6 pickup truck, bucking the country’s move toward EVs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Other Chinese carmakers are dialing up speed instead of brawn to justify higher prices, with top executives boasting about their cars’ performance on racetracks such as Germany’s Nürburgring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
She cuts bread and waves the knife at me and makes sandwiches of brawn and cold potatoes.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
