brown bar

noun

A second lieutenant.

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Meanings

nounbrown bar (plural brown bars)

plural brown bars

  1. USslanggovernmentA second lieutenant.

    Afterward, Lindenmeyer made his way over to Lieutenant Turchan's radioman who, considering the brown-bar's greenness, almost appeared to be running the platoon.

    1991, Keith William Nolan, Operation Buffalo: USMC Fight for the DMZ, page 118
    1 more example

    Making a rather astute deduction from the fact that the brown bar in white fatigues was loaded down with a huge bottle of clear liquid and an assortment of tubes and needles, […]

    1978, The MAC Flyer, page 25

Origin

From the insignia of rank.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

brown bar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brown%20bar

MLA

“brown bar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brown%20bar. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brown bar,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brown%20bar.

Source: brown bar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.