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.
"There's nothing for the kids, no clubs, no brownies or scouts," she says.
From BBC
Lily strays toward a dessert table already crowded with cookies and brownies, but I grab her hand and redirect her toward Aunt Melissa.
From Literature
Soon after that, I mixed up brownie batter and cookie dough.
From Salon
“Noooo. Not the brownies,” George moaned as the big polar bear scarfed them down.
From Literature
Its catchy music and dance sequences made it hugely popular with young audiences, and Jenkins joked she got "brownie points" from her children, aged seven and 10, "for at least trying it".
From BBC
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.
