a hand-held instrument of bristles and a handle, used for painting, cleaning, grooming, etc.:The painter took a thin brush and began painting the wall.
an act of brushing; application of a brush:a few quick brushes of her hair.
a close approach, esp. to something undesirable or harmful; skirmish:a brush with disaster.
the brush,[singular] a rejection or rebuff:to get the brush from one's lover.Compare brush-off.
v.[~ + object]
to sweep, paint, groom, etc., with a brush.
to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over:The plane just brushed the surface of the water.
an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.
Music and Danceone 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.
Zoologythe bushy tail of an animal, esp. of a fox.
Electricity
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.
See brush discharge.
a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.
an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.
a light, stroking touch.
a brief encounter:He has already had one brush with the law.
a close approach, esp. to something undesirable or harmful:a brush with disaster.
Idiomsget the brush, to be rejected or rebuffed:She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.
Idiomsgive the brush, to ignore, rebuff, etc.:If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.
v.t.
to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.
to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over:His lips brushed her ear.
to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over:His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.
v.i.
to move or skim with a slight contact.
brush aside, to disregard; ignore:Our complaints were simply brushed aside.
brush off, to rebuff; send away:She had never been brushed off so rudely before.
brush up on, to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.):She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis.
Also, brush up.
Old French brosser to travel (through brush), verb, verbal derivative of broce (see brush2)
1350–1400; (noun, nominal) Middle English brusshe, probably to be identified with brush2, if origin, originally sense was implement made from twigs, etc., culled from brushwood; (verb, verbal) Middle English brushen to hasten, rush, probably
brush′a•ble, adj. brush′er, n. brush′like′, adj.
8.See corresponding entry in Unabridged engagement, action, skirmish. See struggle.
brush2(brush),USA pronunciationn.
a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.
a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.
bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, esp. close to the ground.
Also called brushland.land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.
backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.
Vulgar Latin *bruscia excrescences, derivative of Latin bruscum knot or excrescence on a maple tree
Middle French broisse, Old French broce underbrush (compare Anglo-French brousson wood, brusseie heath), perh.
Middle English brusshe 1350–1400
brush′i•ness, n.
Brush(brush),USA pronunciationn.
BiographicalKatharine, 1902–52, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.