It is a negative term used to describe a person who you think is doing too much to try and please another person.
For example "Michael had always supported the boss in meetings, but when he started buying the boss a cup of coffee every morning his colleagues knew that he was brown nosing."
The origins of the term are a bit vulgar. Nowadays it's not really offensive, but it is slang (and therefore informal) and so you should be careful about how you use it.