the top brass
The person or people with the most authority, power, or influence in a group or organization. When I was the top brass of the business, I used to charge the most outrageous things to the company credit card. You'll only get a truthful answer if you manage to talk to the top brass.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
top brass
the highest leader(s); the boss(es). (Originally military.) The top brass turned thumbs down on the proposal. You'll have to check it out with the top brass. She'll be home around five.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
top brass
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
(the) ˌtop ˈbrass
(British English, informal) people with power and authority: The top brass got a huge pay rise. OPPOSITE: (the) rank and fileOfficers in the military wear brass (= a bright yellow metal) or gold badges to show their position.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
top brass
n. the highest leader(s); the boss(es). (Originally military.) You’ll have to check it out with the top brass. She’ll be home around five.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
top brass, the
The highest-ranking officials or executives in an organization. The expression is generally thought to come from the late-nineteenth-century British army, when senior officers had gold oak leaves decorating the brim of their caps. John Ciardi, however, proposed another etymology, from the cocked hat worn by French officers in Napoleon’s time, which was folded and carried under the arm (in French, chapeaux à bras) while indoors; Ciardi believed the British changed bras to brass, and referred to officers as brass hats. By World War II both that term and top brass were in common use and afterward were transferred to peacetime officialdom as well. Thus, “The top police brass spreads out a hot carpet for the local cops” (Philadelphia Bulletin, 1949).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer