brownie
Americannoun
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(in folklore) a tiny, fanciful, good-natured brown elf who secretly helps at night with household chores.
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a small, chewy, cakelike cookie, usually made with chocolate and containing nuts.
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Australian. a bread with currants, baked in a camp oven.
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Sometimes Brownie a member of the junior division of the Girl Scouts or the Girl Guides, being a girl in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and usually between six and eight years old.
noun
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(in folklore) an elf said to do helpful work at night, esp household chores
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a small square nutty chocolate cake
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history a bread made with currants
noun
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another name for Brownie Guide
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(formerly) a popular make of simple box camera
Usage
What is a brownie? A brownie is a small, chewy chocolate cake-like dessert that often includes nuts, as in We loved Nana’s brownies so much that we begged her to make them for every party. In British folklore, a brownie is a tiny, brown elf that secretly assists with chores during the night, as in I once heard a fairy tale about a brownie who helped a cobbler clean his workshop. Example: The first thing I learned to bake was brownies, and I still love to bake them.
Related Words
See fairy.
Etymology
Origin of brownie
First recorded in 1520–30; brown + -ie; in folkloric sense, originally Scots
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.
"I didn't really know what a cake or a doughnut or a brownie was until I started having after-school parties in California," she says.
From BBC
The table fills with supermarket vegetables, tubs of hummus, bags of chips, brownies purchased at the last minute.
From Salon
She wore a homemade “Darlene” button every day, and she brought in brownies for lunch two days in a row.
From Literature
At a certain point, the brownie starts to feel like a personality test you’re failing.
From Salon
In addition to the donut cart, there was a table of brownies, pies, and giant heart-shaped cookies.
From Literature
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.
