brown-nose
verb [intransitive, transitive] (informal, disapproving)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they brown-nose | |
| he / she / it brown-noses | |
| past simple brown-nosed | |
| past participle brown-nosed | |
| -ing form brown-nosing |
to treat somebody in authority with special respect in order to make them approve of you or treat you better 谄媚；拍马屁 He got that promotion by brown-nosing. 他靠拍马屁获得提升。 - brown-nose somebody
She spends her time brown-nosing those in power. 她花时间拍当权者的马屁。