brush
/bɹʌʃ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms brushes brushing brushed
- noun An 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.
- noun The act of brushing something. “She gave her hair a quick brush.”
- noun A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
- noun A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
- noun (uncountable) Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland.
- noun A short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience. “brush with death”
- noun The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
- noun (zoology) A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
- verb (transitive) To clean with a brush. “Brush your teeth.”
- verb (transitive) To untangle or arrange with a brush. “Brush your hair.”
- verb (transitive) To apply with a brush. “I am brushing the paint onto the walls.”
- verb (transitive) To remove with a sweeping motion. “She brushed the flour off my clothes.”
- verb (ambitransitive) To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing. “Her scarf brushed his skin.”
- verb (intransitive) To clean one's teeth by brushing them.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
corposant brushwood coppice copse thicket light touch clash encounter skirmish brushing sweep
Etymology
From 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-.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An instrument composed of bristles, or other like material, set in a suitable back or handle, as of wood, bone, or ivory, and used for various purposes, as in removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, etc. Brushes have different shapes and names according to their use; as, clothes brush, paint brush, tooth brush, etc.
- noun The bushy tail of a fox.
- verb To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, smooth, clean, paint, etc., with a brush. "A' brushes his hat o' mornings." Shak.
- verb To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush.
Etymology [OE. brusche, OF. broche, broce, brosse, brushwood, F. brosse brush, LL. brustia, bruscia, fr. OHG. brusta, brust, bristle, G. borste bristle, bürste brush. See Bristle, n., and cf. Browse.]
Etymology [OE. bruschen; cf. F. brosser. See Brush, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “brush”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details