1 a power outage during the day; distinguished from a blackout, which occurs at night. 2  A rolling brownout describes a deliberate reduction in voltage (for sense 1) or of firefighting (for sense 3) in multiple service areas at staggered times.  grayout, greyout.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brownout
A partial loss of power similar to a blackout, but with less intensity. May cause lights to flicker, electronic devices to turn on/off spontaneusly, etc. See brownout. California, in the midst of a constant energy crisis, is apt to have brown outs, especially during the summer.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brown%20out
Less intense than the experience of blacking out when drunk and not remembering portions (or all) of your night, browning out occurs when you don't remember something until someone brings it up. It's not a complete blackout, but partial, because you remember once someone refreshes you. I didn't even remember making out with Bryanne until J-Lo told me (it must not have been that good)! I definitely had a brown out last night.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brown%20out
In some media reports the term brownout refers to an intentional or unintentional power outage or blackout of some areas rather than to a drop in voltage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_(electricity)
Etymology[edit] Noun[edit] When demand for electricity exceeds the available supply, a brownout occurs. Temporary dimming of vision, usually with a brown hue and accompanied by loss of peripheral vision or tunnel vision.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brownout
A brownout near Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, Japan. A brownout is an intentional or unintentional drop in voltage in an electrical power supply system. Intentional brownouts are used for load reduction in an emergency. The reduction lasts for minutes or hours, as opposed to short-term voltage sag (or dip).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownout_(electricity)
In present day terms it is load shedding. The daily scheduled power cuts we face can be termed as Brown out. Few decades back it is referred to sudden dip in voltages in system. When this happens proportional high currents would be drawn from the transmission lines. Because of this there will be imbalance in the grid and if not properly handled the grid may collapse leading to blackout. Brownout is less severe than blackout.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-brownout
1 a power outage during the day; distinguished from a blackout, which occurs at night. 2  A rolling brownout describes a deliberate reduction in voltage (for sense 1) or of firefighting (for sense 3) in multiple service areas at staggered times. 3  grayout, greyout.  blackout.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brownout
I had to shit so bad that I had a brown out. I don't remember anything between the parking lot and the stall. When the stupid power company lacks the power grid capacity, and causes all my lights to flicker and resets my clocks and computers. If I get another brown out, I'm going to firebomb the electric company.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brown%20out
1 A rolling brownout describes a deliberate reduction in voltage (for sense 1) or of firefighting (for sense 3) in multiple service areas at staggered times. 2  grayout, greyout. 3  blackout.  Greek: πτώση τάσης f ‎(ptósi tásis)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brownout
what is a brownout
A brownout is an intentional or unintentional drop in voltage in an electrical power supply system.