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brush up

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brush

1  [bruhsh]
Use brush up in a Sentence
–noun
1. 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.
b. brush discharge.
5. 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 brush 2 , 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 brush 2 )

Related forms:
brush⋅a⋅ble, adjective
brusher, noun
brushlike, adjective

Synonyms:
8. engagement, action, skirmish. See struggle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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brush 1   (brŭsh)   
n.  

    1. A device consisting of bristles fastened into a handle, used in scrubbing, polishing, or painting.

    2. The act of using this device.

  2. A light touch in passing; a graze.

  3. An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous: a brush with the law; a brush with death.

  4. A bushy tail: the brush of a fox.

  5. A sliding connection completing a circuit between a fixed and a moving conductor.

  6. A snub; a brushoff.

v.   brushed, brush·ing, brush·es

v.   tr.

    1. To clean, polish, or groom with a brush.

    2. To apply with or as if with motions of a brush.

    3. To remove with or as if with motions of a brush.

  2. To dismiss abruptly or curtly: brushed the matter aside; brushed an old friend off.

  3. To touch lightly in passing; graze against.

v.   intr.

  1. To use or apply a brush.

  2. 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

  1. To refresh one's memory.

  2. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
brush

  1. n.
    an encounter; a close shave. : My brush with the bear was so close I could smell its breath—which was vile, I might add.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

brush  (2)
"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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

brush up

  1. Clean, refurbish, as in We plan to get the house brushed up in time for the party. [c. 1600]

  2. Also, brush up on. Review, refresh one's memory, as in Nell brushed up on her Spanish before going to Honduras, or I'm brushing up my knowledge of town history before I speak at the club. [Late 1700s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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