1 B1 neutral
To cook food until its surface becomes golden-brown.
"Brown up the onions in butter before adding the garlic."
separable
brown up
B1 neutral separable transitive/intransitive
To become or make something browned or golden in colour, typically through cooking.
In plain English
To go golden-brown when you cook something, like toast or fried onions.
What does "brown up" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 informal
To become tanned or darker in skin tone due to sun exposure.
"He browned up quickly in the southern sun."
inseparable
Usage tip
Common in cooking contexts, both in instructions (brown up the onions) and descriptions (the crust browned up nicely). Interchangeable with 'brown off' in culinary usage. Also used for skin tanning, though less common than 'tan up' or 'bronze up'.
Words that pair with "brown up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
onions butter meat crust pastry skin
How to conjugate "brown up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
brown up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
browns up
he/she/it
Past simple
browned up
yesterday
Past participle
browned up
have + pp
-ing form
browning up
continuous
Hear "brown up" in the wild
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