an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.
2.
one of a pair of devices consisting of long, thin handles with wire bristles attached, used in jazz or dance bands for keeping a soft, rhythmic beat on the trap drums or the cymbals.
3.
the bushy tail of an animal, esp. of a fox.
4.
Electricity.
a.
a conductor, often made of carbon or copper or a combination of the two, serving to maintain electric contact between stationary and moving parts of a machine, generator, or other apparatus.
a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.
6.
an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.
7.
a light, stroking touch.
8.
a brief encounter: He has already had one brush with the law.
9.
a close approach, esp. to something undesirable or harmful: a brush with disaster.
–verb (used with object)
10.
to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.
11.
to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over: His lips brushed her ear.
12.
to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over: His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.
–verb (used without object)
13.
to move or skim with a slight contact.
—Verb phrases
14.
brush aside, to disregard; ignore: Our complaints were simply brushed aside.
15.
brush off, to rebuff; send away: She had never been brushed off so rudely before.
16.
brush up on, to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.): She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis. Also, brush up.
—Idioms
17.
get the brush, to be rejected or rebuffed: She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.
18.
give the brush, to ignore, rebuff, etc.: If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.
[Origin: 1350–1400; (n.) ME brusshe, prob. to be identified with brush2, if orig. sense was implement made from twigs, etc., culled from brushwood; (v.) ME brushen to hasten, rush, prob. < OF brosser to travel (through brush), v. deriv. of broce (see brush2)]
—Related forms
brush·a·ble, adjective
brusher, noun
brushlike, adjective
—Synonyms 8. engagement, action, skirmish. See struggle.
a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.
2.
a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.
3.
bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, esp. close to the ground.
4.
Also called brushland.land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.
5.
backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME brusshe < MF broisse, OF broce underbrush (cf. AF brousson wood, brusseie heath), perh. < VL *bruscia excrescences, deriv. of L bruscum knot or excrescence on a maple tree]
A device consisting of bristles fastened into a handle, used in scrubbing, polishing, or painting.
The act of using this device.
A light touch in passing; a graze.
An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous: a brush with the law; a brush with death.
A bushy tail: the brush of a fox.
A sliding connection completing a circuit between a fixed and a moving conductor.
A snub; a brushoff.
v.
brushed, brush·ing, brush·es
v.
tr.
To clean, polish, or groom with a brush.
To apply with or as if with motions of a brush.
To remove with or as if with motions of a brush.
To dismiss abruptly or curtly: brushed the matter aside; brushed an old friend off.
To touch lightly in passing; graze against.
v.
intr.
To use or apply a brush.
To move past something so as to touch it lightly.
Phrasal Verb(s): brush back Baseball
To force (a batter) to move away from the plate by throwing an inside pitch.
brush up
To refresh one's memory.
To renew a skill.
[Middle English brusshe, from Old French brosse, brushwood, brush; see brush2.]
brush'er n., brush'y adj.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to make light contact with something in passing: Her arm brushed mine. I flicked the paper with my finger. The arrow glanced off the tree. The knife blade grazed the countertop. A taxi shaved the curb. The oar skims the pond's surface.
"dust-sweeper," 1377, from O.Fr. broisse "a brush," probably from V.L. *bruscia "a bunch of new shoots" (used to sweep away dust), perhaps from P.Gmc. *bruskaz "underbrush." Brush off "rebuff, dismiss" is from 1941.
"shrubbery," 1330, from Anglo-Fr. bruce "brushwood," O.N.Fr. broche, O.Fr. brosse, from Gallo-Romance *brocia, perhaps from *brucus "heather," or possibly from the same source as brush (1). Brushfire is from 1850.
Brush Prairie, WA (CDP, FIPS 8465) Location: 45.73140 N, 122.55138 W Population (1990): 2650 (916 housing units) Area: 20.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 98606
Brush Valley, PA Zip code(s): 15720
Brush, CO (city, FIPS 9555) Location: 40.25675 N, 103.63230 W Population (1990): 4165 (1720 housing units) Area: 6.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 80723
Browse\ (brouz), n. [OF. brost, broust, sprout, shoot, F. brout browse, browsewood, prob. fr. OHG. burst, G. borste, bristle; cf. also Armor. brousta to browse. See Bristle, n., Brush, n.] The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals; green food. --Spenser. Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed, On browse, and corn, and flowery meadows feed. --Dryden.
Brush\, n. [OE. brusche, OF. broche, broce, brosse, brushwood, F. brosse brush, LL. brustia, bruscia, fr. OHG. brusta, brust, bristle, G. borste bristle, b["u]rste brush. See Bristle, n., and cf. Browse.]1. 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. 2. The bushy tail of a fox. 3. (Zo["o]l.) A tuft of hair on the mandibles. 4. Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood. 5. A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small trees in a wood; underbrush. 6. (Elec.) A bundle of flexible wires or thin plates of metal, used to conduct an electrical current to or from the commutator of a dynamo, electric motor, or similar apparatus. 7. The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush; a rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as, we got a brush from the wheel as it passed. [As leaves] have with one winter's brush Fell from their boughts. --Shak. 8. A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy. Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong, And tempt not yet the brushes of the war. --Shak. 9. A short contest, or trial, of speed. Let us enjoy a brush across the country. --Cornhill Mag. Electrical brush, a form of the electric discharge characterized by a brushlike appearance of luminous rays diverging from an electrified body.
Brush\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Brushed; p. pr. & vb. n. Brushing.] [OE. bruschen; cf. F. brosser. See Brush, n.]1. 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. 2. To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush. Some spread their sailes, some with strong oars sweep The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave. --Fairfax. Brushed with the kiss of rustling wings. --Milton. 3. To remove or gather by brushing, or by an act like that of brushing, or by passing lightly over, as wind; -- commonly with off. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed With raven's feather from unwholesome fen. --Shak. And from the boughts brush off the evil dew. --Milton. To brush aside, to remove from one's way, as with a brush. To brush away, to remove, as with a brush or brushing motion. To brush up, to paint, or make clean or bright with a brush; to cleanse or improve; to renew. You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors. --Pope.
Brush\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Brushed; p. pr. & vb. n. Brushing.] [OE. bruschen; cf. F. brosser. See Brush, n.]1. 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. 2. To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush. Some spread their sailes, some with strong oars sweep The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave. --Fairfax. Brushed with the kiss of rustling wings. --Milton. 3. To remove or gather by brushing, or by an act like that of brushing, or by passing lightly over, as wind; -- commonly with off. As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed With raven's feather from unwholesome fen. --Shak. And from the boughts brush off the evil dew. --Milton. To brush aside, to remove from one's way, as with a brush. To brush away, to remove, as with a brush or brushing motion. To brush up, to paint, or make clean or bright with a brush; to cleanse or improve; to renew. You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors. --Pope.
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