Meaning & use
brown out
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Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A period when the electricity supply to a place is reduced so that lights dim and machines run poorly, but it does not fail completely.
Grammar: Often caused by heavy demand: rolling brownouts.
Patterns
- a brownout in an area
- suffer a brownout
A summer heat wave caused a brownout across the city.
Lights flickered during the brownout, but the computers kept running.
Utility companies warn of brownouts when demand is high.
nouncountablemilitary
A deliberate dimming or partial darkening of lights in a city, especially during wartime to avoid being seen from the air.
Grammar: Historical sense: wartime brownouts.
Patterns
- a wartime brownout
During the war the town observed a nightly brownout.
Residents hung heavy curtains because of the brownout.
The brownout reduced street lights but did not stop all traffic.
verbintransitiveinformal
To experience or cause a partial loss of power, so that lights go dim.
Grammar: Written as two words: the grid browned out.
Patterns
- brown out in the evening
The neighborhood browned out when everyone turned on their air conditioners.
The lights browned out twice during the storm.
The whole grid could brown out if demand keeps rising.
Word forms
| plural | brownouts |
|---|---|
| verb: third person singular | browns out |
| verb: past tense | browned out |
| verb: -ing form | browning out |
Common combinations
- rolling brownouts
- Rolling brownouts hit different districts in turn.
- cause a brownout
- Too many air conditioners can cause a brownout.
- avoid brownouts
- The new substation should avoid brownouts.
- brownout warning
- The city issued a brownout warning for the weekend.
- brownout conditions
- Brownout conditions damaged some motors.
Synonyms and how they differ
- power dip
- Power dip describes a short drop in voltage and is plainer, whereas brownout implies a longer period.
- voltage drop
- Voltage drop is the technical measurement, while brownout names the event people notice.
- blackout
- A blackout is a total loss of power, so it is more severe than a brownout.
- power cut
- Power cut is the British phrase for a complete loss of electricity, which differs from the partial drop of a brownout.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: brown out or blackout?
brown out vs blackout
A blackout is a complete loss of electricity, while a brownout is only a reduction. Confusing them is common in news reports.
Practice
During the heat wave, the lights in the city dimmed but never went out, so officials described it as a ____.
Choose one answer.
A brownout is a partial drop in power. A blackout, power cut and shutdown all suggest complete loss of electricity.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brown out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.