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Definition of 'brush'

Word Frequency

brush

(brʌʃ )
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense brushes , present participle brushing , past tense, past participle brushed
1. countable noun
A brush is an object which has a large number of bristles or hairs fixed to it. You use brushes for painting, for cleaning things, and for tidying your hair.
We gave him paint and brushes.
Stains are removed with buckets of soapy water and scrubbing brushes.
...a hair brush.
2. verb
If you brush something or brush something such as dirt off it, you clean it or tidy it using a brush.
Have you brushed your teeth? [VERB noun]
She brushed the powder out of her hair. [VERB noun preposition]
Using a small brush, he brushed away the fine sawdust. [VERB noun with adverb]
Synonyms: clean, wash, polish, scrub   More Synonyms of brush
Brush is also a noun.
I gave it a quick brush with my hairbrush.
3. verb
If you brush something with a liquid, you apply a layer of that liquid using a brush.
Take a sheet of filo pastry and brush it with melted butter. [VERB noun + with]
4. verb
If you brush something somewhere, you remove it with quick light movements of your hands.
He brushed his hair back with both hands. [VERB noun with adverb]
She brushed away tears as she spoke of him. [VERB noun with adverb]
He brushed the snow off the windshield. [VERB noun preposition]
5. verb
If one thing brushes against another or if you brush one thing against another, the first thing touches the second thing lightly while passing it.
Something brushed against her leg. [VERB preposition]
I felt her dark brown hair brushing the back of my shoulder. [VERB noun]
She knelt and brushed her lips softly across Michael's cheek. [VERB noun preposition]
Synonyms: touch, come into contact with, sweep, kiss   More Synonyms of brush
6. verb
If you brush past someone or brush by them, you almost touch them as you go past them.
[written]
My father would burst into the kitchen, brushing past my mother. [VERB preposition/adverb]
He brushed by with a perfunctory wave to the crowd. [VERB preposition/adverb]
7. countable noun
If you have a brush with someone, you have an argument or disagreement with them. You use brush when you want to make an argument or disagreement sound less serious than it really is.
[vagueness]
My first brush with a headmaster came six years ago. [+ with]
It is his third brush with the law in less than a year. [+ with]
Synonyms: conflict, fight, clash, set-to [informal]   More Synonyms of brush
8. countable noun
If you have a brush with a particular situation, usually an unpleasant one, you almost experience it.
...the trauma of a brush with death. [+ with]
The corporation is fighting to survive its second brush with bankruptcy. [+ with]
Synonyms: encounter, meeting, confrontation, rendezvous   More Synonyms of brush
9. uncountable noun
Brush is an area of rough open land covered with small bushes and trees. You also use brush to refer to the bushes and trees on this land.
...the brush fire that destroyed nearly 500 acres.
...a meadow of low brush and grass.
Synonyms: shrubs, bushes, scrub, underwood   More Synonyms of brush
10.  See also broad-brush, nail brush
11.  tarred with the same brush
Phrasal verbs:
brush aside
brush off
brush up
More Synonyms of brush
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Video: pronunciation of 'brush'

Word Frequency

brush in British 1

(brʌʃ )
noun
1. 
a device made of bristles, hairs, wires, etc, set into a firm back or handle: used to apply paint, clean or polish surfaces, groom the hair, etc
2. 
the act or an instance of brushing
3. 
a light stroke made in passing; graze
4. 
a brief encounter or contact, esp an unfriendly one; skirmish
5. 
the bushy tail of a fox, often kept as a trophy after a hunt, or of certain breeds of dog
6. 
an electric conductor, esp one made of carbon, that conveys current between stationary and rotating parts of a generator, motor, etc
7. 
a dark brush-shaped region observed when a biaxial crystal is viewed through a microscope, caused by interference between beams of polarized light
verb
8. (transitive)
to clean, polish, scrub, paint, etc, with a brush
9. (transitive)
to apply or remove with a brush or brushing movement
brush the crumbs off the table
10. (transitive)
to touch lightly and briefly
11. (intransitive)
to move so as to graze or touch something lightly
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
brusher (ˈbrusher)
noun
brushlike (ˈbrushˌlike)
adjective
Word origin of 'brush'
C14: from Old French broisse, perhaps from broce brush2
Word Frequency

brush in British 2

(brʌʃ )
noun
1. 
a thick growth of shrubs and small trees; scrub
2. 
land covered with scrub
3. 
broken or cut branches or twigs; brushwood
4. 
wooded sparsely populated country; backwoods
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin of 'brush'
C16 (dense undergrowth), C14 (cuttings of trees): from Old French broce, from Vulgar Latin bruscia (unattested) brushwood
Word Frequency

brush in American 1

(brʌʃ ; brush)
noun
1. 
brushwood
2.  US
sparsely settled country, covered with wild scrub growth
3. 
a. 
a device having bristles, hairs, or wires fastened into a hard back, with or without a handle attached: brushes are used for cleaning, polishing, painting, smoothing the hair, etc.
b. 
a device of wires attached in a fanlike spread to a handle, used as on drums or cymbals for a swishing or muted effect
4. 
the act of brushing
5. 
a light, grazing stroke
a brush of the hand
6. 
brushwork
7. 
a bushy tail, esp. that of a fox
8.  US, Slang
brushoff
9.  Electricity
a. 
a piece, plate, rod, or bundle of carbon, copper, etc. used as a conductor between an external circuit and a revolving part, as in a motor
b. 
brush discharge
verb transitive
10. 
to use a brush on; clean, polish, paint, smooth, etc. with a brush
11. 
to apply, spread, remove, etc. with a stroke or strokes as of a brush
12. 
to go over lightly, as with a brush
13. 
to touch or graze in passing
verb intransitive
14. 
to move so as to push lightly aside, skim, or graze past something
Idioms:
brush aside
brush off
brush up
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin of 'brush'
ME brushe < OFr broce, brosse, bush, brushwood < VL *bruscia < Gmc *bruskaz, underbrush: for IE base see breast
Word Frequency

brush in American 2

(brʌʃ ; brush)
verb intransitive
1. 
to hurry
noun
2. 
a short, quick fight, skirmish, etc.
a brush with the law
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin of 'brush'
ME bruschen, rush < ? OFr brosser, to travel (? through woods), beat underbrush for game: see brush1

Example sentences containing 'brush'

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
They wait until an animal or person brushes past then climb on and bite the skin. The Sun (2016) Use an angled brush for a soft feathery finish. Times, Sunday Times (2016)You have to brush away the disappointment. The Sun (2016)Then he helped me to bed and sat brushing my hair. Times, Sunday Times (2016)Both managers then stormed out, brushing shoulders on the way. The Sun (2016) Lightly brush with 2 tbsp of ghee and serve hot. Times, Sunday Times (2016)I leave them to dry before cleaning the brush and applying a second colour. The Sun (2016)If you aren't experienced, a paint brush is also easier to control than a roller. The Sun (2016)From his love life to his brushes with death, this is a chance to see another side to the bloke behind Brexit. The Sun (2017)Then I use a small brush for detail work, such as concealer. Times, Sunday Times (2017)Put it on some foil lightly brushed with olive oil and place on a baking tray. Times, Sunday Times (2008)Will unwelcome droplets of dew drip down your back if you brush too close to the plants? Times, Sunday Times (2012)The doctors are gently brushing something from his face. Times, Sunday Times (2014)Then dampen a lip brush and apply all over your pout for a subtle colour. The Sun (2014) Use an angled brush and fill in gaps to define and shape. The Sun (2015)Then came his third brush with death. Times, Sunday Times (2014)Lots of them picked up paint brushes and gave us a hand. The Sun (2009)You can only brush sand away on the green. The Sun (2012)Other brands of skin brushes are also generally available from most health stores. Martlew, Gillian & Silver, Shelley Stay Well This Winter (1989)Use a stiff brush to scrub the potatoes clean. Times, Sunday Times (2008)When a horse brushed against his leg he almost fainted. The Sun (2011)What other brushes with the law have you suffered? The Sun (2012)The tall teenage son brushed his hair on the edge of the straw roof as he passed. Times, Sunday Times (2010)Such is the lightest brush of life on the exterior. Richard Fortey THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)Once the horse is dry brush him over with a clean body brush. Eccles, Lesley Your First Horse - buying, feeding, caring (1989)Lightly beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush the tops of the biscuits. Times, Sunday Times (2011)It spread like a brush fire. Christianity Today (2000)And the Norwegian international said he knew instantly he was brushing shoulders with future world superstars. The Sun (2013)It's dispensed through a brush and looks almost like a new layer of radiant skin has been painted on. Times, Sunday Times (2015)

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Trends of 'brush'

In Common Usage. brush is one of the 10000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary

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Translations for 'brush'

British English: brush /brʌʃ/ NOUN
A brush is an object with a large number of bristles fixed to it. You use brushes for painting, for cleaning things, and for tidying your hair.
...a hair brush.
  • American English: brush
  • Arabic: فُرْشَاة
  • Brazilian Portuguese: escova
  • Chinese: 刷子
  • Croatian: četka
  • Czech: kartáč
  • Danish: børste
  • Dutch: borstel
  • European Spanish: cepillo zapatos
  • Finnish: harja
  • French: brosse peigne
  • German: Bürste
  • Greek: βούρτσα
  • Italian: spazzola
  • Japanese: ブラシ
  • Korean: 솔
  • Norwegian: børste
  • Polish: szczotka
  • European Portuguese: escova
  • Romanian: perie
  • Russian: щетка
  • Spanish: cepillo
  • Swedish: borste
  • Thai: ไม้แปรง
  • Turkish: fırça
  • Ukrainian: пензель
  • Vietnamese: bàn chải
British English: brush /brʌʃ/ VERB
If you brush something or brush something such as dirt off it, you clean it or tidy it using a brush.
Have you brushed your teeth?
  • American English: brush
  • Arabic: يُنَظِّف بالفُرْشاة
  • Brazilian Portuguese: escovar
  • Chinese: 刷
  • Croatian: četkati
  • Czech: kartáčovat
  • Danish: børste
  • Dutch: borstelen
  • European Spanish: cepillar
  • Finnish: harjata
  • French: brosser
  • German: bürsten
  • Greek: βουρτσίζω
  • Italian: spazzolare
  • Japanese: ブラシをかける
  • Korean: 솔질하다
  • Norwegian: børste
  • Polish: wyszczotkować
  • European Portuguese: escovar
  • Romanian: a peria
  • Russian: чистить щеткой
  • Spanish: cepillar
  • Swedish: borsta
  • Thai: แปรง
  • Turkish: fırçalamak
  • Ukrainian: чистити
  • Vietnamese: chải

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Nearby words of 'brush'

  • brunt
  • Brusa
  • bruschetta
  • brush
  • brush aside
  • brush border
  • brush cut

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'B'

Related Terms of 'brush'

  • brush cut
  • brush off
  • brush-off
  • brush up
  • brush-up

  • View more related words

Source

Definition of brush from the Collins English Dictionary

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Scrabble score for 'brush': 10
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