bush

UK: /ˈbʊʃ/ US: /bʊʃ/ ,(bŏŏsh)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bush¹ /bʊʃ/   n. 

1. Botany [countable] a low plant with many branches that arise from near the ground.
2. something resembling or suggesting this:
   [countable] a large bush of hair.
3. [uncountable* usually: the + ~]
   • a large uncleared area covered with plant growth:
     Our cat disappeared into the bush that night.
   • a large, mostly uncleared area with few people.

Idioms

4. Idioms beat around or about the bush, to avoid talking about a subject directly:
   beat around the bush for a while before asking for permission to marry their daughter.

bush.,  an abbreviation of:

1. bushel.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bush¹  (bŏŏsh), n. 

1. Botany a low plant with many branches that arise from or near the ground.
2. Botany a small cluster of shrubs appearing as a single plant.
3. something resembling or suggesting this, as a thick, shaggy head of hair.
4. British Terms Also called bush lot. [Canadian.] a small, wooded lot, esp. a farm lot with trees left standing to provide firewood, fence posts, etc.
5. Zoology the tail of a fox;
   brush.
6. [Geog.] a stretch of uncultivated land covered with mixed plant growth, bushy vegetation, trees, etc.
7. a large uncleared area thickly covered with mixed plant growth, trees, etc., as a jungle.
8. a large, sparsely populated area most of which is uncleared, as areas of Australia and Alaska.
9. a tree branch hung as a sign before a tavern or vintner's shop.
10. any tavern sign.
11. Slang Terms (vulgar). pubic hair.
12. [Archaic.] a wineshop.
13. Idioms beat around or about the bush, to avoid coming to the point;
    delay in approaching a subject directly:
    Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want.
14. Idioms beat the bushes, to scout or search for persons or things far and wide:
    beating the bushes for engineers.
15. British Terms, Idioms go bush, [Australian.]
    • to flee or escape into the bush.
    • [Slang.] to become wild.

v.i. 

16. to be or become bushy;
    branch or spread as or like a bush.

v.t. 

17. to cover, protect, support, or mark with a bush or bushes.

adj. 

18. bush-league.

• bef. 1000; Middle English busshe, Old English busc (in place-names); cognate with Dutch bos wood, German Busch, Old Norse buskr bush

bush′less, adj. 
bush′like′, adj. 

bush²  (bŏŏsh), n. 

1. Metallurgy a lining of metal or the like set into an orifice to guard against wearing by friction, erosion, etc.
2. Metallurgy a bushing.

v.t. 

3. Metallurgy to furnish with a bush;
   line with metal.

• Middle Dutch bussche; see box¹
• 1560–70

Bush  (bŏŏsh), n. 

1. Biographical George (Herbert Walker), born 1924, U.S. politician: vice president 1981–89; 41st president of the U.S. 1989–93.

Van•ne•var  (və nē′vär, -vər), 1890–1974, U.S. electrical engineer: education and research administrator.
bush., 

1. Weights and Measures bushel;
   bushels.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bush / bʊʃ/ noun

1. a dense woody plant, smaller than a tree, with many branches arising from the lower part of the stem; shrub
2. a dense cluster of such shrubs; thicket
3. something resembling a bush, esp in density: a bush of hair
4. the bush ⇒ an uncultivated or sparsely settled area, esp in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada: usually covered with trees or shrubs, varying from open shrubby country to dense rainforest
5. an area of land on a farm on which timber is grown and cut
   Also called: bush lot, woodlot
6. the bush ⇒ the countryside, as opposed to the city: out in the bush
7. a bunch of ivy hung as a vintner's sign in front of a tavern
8. beat about the bush ⇒ to avoid the point at issue; prevaricate

adjective

1. rough-and-ready
2. unprofessional, unpolished, or second-rate
3. go bush ⇒ to abandon city amenities and live rough

verb

1. (intransitive) to grow thick and bushy
2. (transitive) to cover, decorate, support, etc, with bushes
3. bush it ⇒ (transitive) to camp out in the bush

Etymology: 13th Century: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse buski, Old High German busc, Middle Dutch bosch; related to Old French bosc wood, Italian bosco

bush / bʊʃ/ noun

1. a thin metal sleeve or tubular lining serving as a bearing or guide

verb

1. to fit a bush to (a casing, bearing, etc)

Etymology: 15th Century: from Middle Dutch busse box, bush; related to German Büchse tin, Swedish hjulbōssa wheel-box, Late Latin buxis box¹

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

Bush, +n. 

1. Biographical George W(alker) ("Dubya''), born 1946, U.S. businessman and politician: governor of Texas 1994–2001;
   43rd president of the U.S. since 2001.