Definition of "brownstone" [brown•stone]

• A brownish-red sandstone used as a building material. (noun)
• A house built or faced with brownish-red sandstone. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Today, the term brownstone can describe almost any row house, which typically has a facade of brick, limestone, actual brownstone or a mixture, he says."
• "The word "brownstone" became a slang term for heroin, perhaps best immortalized in Guns N' Roses' 1987 song "Mr. Brownstone," but also evident in the Velvet Underground's 1967 song "I'm Waiting for the Man," where Lou Reed sings about going up to Harlem to meet his dealer, "Up to a brownstone, up three flights of stairs / Everybody's pinned you, but nobody cares.""
• "So if the brownstone is well maintained, it's got the ironwork out front, it's got the street lamp — it's evocative."