/bɹʌʃ/, /bɹɛʃ/
OriginFrom Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.
- countable, uncountableAn implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.
- countable, uncountableThe act of brushing something.
“She gave her hair a quick brush.”
“as leaves
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughs”
- countable, uncountableA piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
- countable, uncountableA brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
“If there was a sharp point nearby, electricity would stream from it in a luminous brush, a little corposant, and one could blow out candles with the outstreaming “electric wind,” or even get this to t”
- uncountableWild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland.
“We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.”
“One typical Grecian kiln engorged one thousand muleloads of juniper wood in a single burn. Fifty such kilns would devour six thousand metric tons of trees and brush annually.”
- countable, uncountableA short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience.
“brush with death”
“He has had brushes with communism from time to time.”
“The usual visual grammar was in place – a carpet in the street, people in paddocks awaiting a brush with something glamorous, blokes with earpieces, birds in frocks of colliding colours that if sighte”
- countable, uncountableThe furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
“They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was th”
“We terrified the mare and foal;
The fox stood still and far too bold -
So we strung him up, brush neatly folded
Mayhem, maybe.”
- countable, uncountableA tuft of hair on the mandibles.
- archaic, countable, uncountableA short contest, or trial, of speed.
“1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage (originally published in Cornhill Magazine
Mark and Lord Lufton had been boys together, and his lordship knew that Mark in his heart would enjoy a brush acros”
“[…] got into a brush with a fast British cutter as they approached Cowes […]”
- countable, uncountableAn instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals.
- countable, uncountableAn on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture.
“Your bitmap image appears along the painted stroke. If you'd like to permanently create a custom sprite brush, it's fairly easy to adapt an existing MEL file[…].”
- countable, uncountableA set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality.
“to download brushes for Photoshop”
- countable, uncountableIn 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area.
- countable, slang, uncountableThe floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino.
- uncountableEvergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths.
- transitiveTo clean with a brush.
- transitiveTo untangle or arrange with a brush.
- transitiveTo apply with a brush.
“I am brushing the paint onto the walls.”
- transitiveTo remove with a sweeping motion.
“She brushed the flour off my clothes.”
“Caliban: As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd / With raven's feather from unwholesome fen / Drop on you both![…]”
- ambitransitiveTo touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing.
“Her scarf brushed his skin.”
“Some spread their sails, some with strong oars sweep / The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave.”
“Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings.”
- intransitiveTo clean one's teeth by brushing them.
“Of course, Halloween does not have to be completely treatless. Plain chocolate candy is okay, provided you remember to brush afterwards.”
Formsbrushes(plural) · brushes(present, singular, third-person) · brushing(participle, present) · brushed(participle, past) · brushed(past) · Brushes(plural)