Link Centre Dictionary

brush

UK/bɹʊʃ/ US/bɹʌʃ/ common slang
verb (6) noun (8)

verb

1.

rub with a brush, or as if with a brush

  • “Johnson brushed the hairs from his jacket”
2.

touch lightly and briefly

  • “He brushed the wall lightly”
3.

clean with a brush

  • “She brushed the suit before hanging it back into the closet”
4.

sweep across or over

  • “Her long skirt brushed the floor”
  • “A gasp swept cross the audience”
Synonyms
5.

remove with or as if with a brush

  • “brush away the crumbs”
  • “brush the dust from the jacket”
  • “brush aside the objections”
6.

cover by brushing

  • “brush the bread with melted butter”

noun

1.
2.

an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle

3.
4.

conducts current between rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor

5.
6.

the act of brushing your teeth

  • “the dentist recommended two brushes a day”
Synonyms
7.

the act of brushing your hair

  • “he gave his hair a quick brush”
Synonyms
8.

contact with something dangerous or undesirable

  • “I had a brush with danger on my way to work”
  • “he tried to avoid any brushes with the police”

Origin

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-.

Phrases

  • air brush
  • antelope brush
  • as daft as a brush
  • beard brush
  • bog brush
  • bottle brush
  • bristle brush
  • broad brush
  • brush aside
  • brush back
  • brush by
  • brush down

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.