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

Video: pronunciation of 'brush'

Word Frequency

brush in British 1

(brʌʃ )

noun

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

the act or an instance of brushing

a light stroke made in passing; graze

a brief encounter or contact, esp an unfriendly one; skirmish

the bushy tail of a fox, often kept as a trophy after a hunt, or of certain breeds of dog

an electric conductor, esp one made of carbon, that conveys current between stationary and rotating parts of a generator, motor, etc

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

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

a thick growth of shrubs and small trees; scrub

land covered with scrub

broken or cut branches or twigs; brushwood

wooded sparsely populated country; backwoods

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

brushwood

2. US

sparsely settled country, covered with wild scrub growth

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.

a device of wires attached in a fanlike spread to a handle, used as on drums or cymbals for a swishing or muted effect

the act of brushing

a light, grazing stroke

a brush of the hand

brushwork

a bushy tail, esp. that of a fox

8. US, Slang

brushoff

9. Electricity

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

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

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

to hurry

noun

a short, quick fight, skirmish, etc.

a brush with the law

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'

Related Terms of 'brush'

Source

Definition of brush from the Collins English Dictionary

Aspect

When we use a verb, we often need to be able to refer to more than the time at which an event took place. We sometimes need to be able to refer to actions and states as completed or not completed. As...