to try too hard to please someone, especially someone in a position of authority, in a way that other people find unpleasant The rest of the class were sick of watching him brown-nose.
brown-nose
1. and brownie and brown-nosern. a sycophant; one who flatters for self-serving motives. You are just a plain old brown-nose. Will some brown-noser please try to get the teacher to put off the test?
2. tv. & in. to curry favor with someone; to be a sycophant. Don keeps brown-nosing, and the professor pretends not to notice.