▪ I. bravo, n.1
(ˈbrɑːvəʊ)
Pl. bravoes (-os).
[a. It. bravo: cf. brave. Long naturalized in Eng., whence a pronunciation (ˈbreɪvəʊ) in some Dicts.]
1. A daring villain, a hired soldier or assassin; ‘a man who murders for hire’ (J.); a reckless desperado.
| 1597 Daniel Civ. Wars iii. lxxii, This bravo cheers these dastards all he can. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. iv. v, Setting-on your desperate bravo To murder him. 1668 R. Lestrange Vis. Quev. (1708) 217 Cassius and my self were but your Bravos. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 136 ¶3, I have been three Nights together dogged by Bravoes. 1761 Hume Hist. Eng. I. vii. 155 Those bravoes, or disorderly soldiers, with whom every country in Europe..abounded. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 178 The hired bravos who defend The tyrant's throne. 1876 Green Short Hist. viii. §6. 528 While the bravoes of Whitehall laid hands on their leaders. |
† 2. = bravado. Obs. rare.
| 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iii. vi. (1616) 563 Is this your Brauo, ladies? 1713 Lond. & Countr. Brew. iv. (1743) 289 For keeping them to a great Age out of a Bravo. |
▪ II. bravo, int. and n.2
(ˈbrɑːvəʊ)
Also in superl. form braˈvissimo.
[a. It. bravo, superl. bravissimo most excellent.]
Capital! excellent! well done!
| 1761 Colman Jealous W. i. (L.) That's right—I'm steel—Bravo!—Adamant—Bravissimo! 1817 Byron Beppo xxxii, His ‘bravo’ was decisive. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 232 Bravo, Heracles, brave words, said he. |
Hence, as n. An exclamation of bravo! a cheer.
| 1844 Ld. Brougham A. Lunel III. v. 149 He escaped to bed before any bravo could be heard. 1855 O. W. Holmes Poems 29 Whose thousand bravos roll untired along. |
▪ III. bravo, v.
(ˈbrɑːvəʊ)
[f. bravo n.1 and int.]
trans.
† 1. = brave v. 1, 2. Obs.
2. To greet with ‘bravo!’
| 1732 Col. Rec. Penn. III. 496 Treated with great contempt insulted and bravoed by those of Maryland. 1831 S. E. Ferrier Destiny, [He] was bravoed and applauded. |