I. flush 1 /flʌʃ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Probably from Latin fluxus ; ⇨ ↑ flux ]
1 . REDNESS ON FACE [singular] a red colour that appears on your face when you are angry or embarrassed SYN blush :
His words brought a warm flush to her face.
⇨ ↑ hot flush
2 . FEELINGS a flush of anger/embarrassment/excitement etc a sudden feeling of anger, embarrassment etc SYN surge :
She felt a sudden flush of anger.
3 . TOILET [countable]
a) the part of a toilet that cleans it with a sudden flow of water:
The flush isn’t working properly.
b) the act of cleaning a toilet by forcing water through it
4 . CARDS [countable] a set of cards that someone has in a card game that are all of the same ↑ suit
5 . the first flush of youth/manhood the beginning of a period of time when you are young etc:
a group of adolescent boys in the first flush of manhood
6 . a flush of something a large number of things that happen or arrive at the same time:
The spring brings a flush of young animals to the farm.
II. flush 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . BECOME RED [intransitive] to become red in the face, for example when you are angry or embarrassed SYN blush :
Susan flushed deeply and looked away.
He flushed angrily.
flush red/crimson/scarlet
Robyn felt her cheeks flush scarlet.
flush with
Mrs Cooper flushed with indignation.
2 . TOILET [intransitive and transitive] if you flush a toilet, or if it flushes, you make water go through it to clean it:
Why do children never remember to flush the loo?
She flushed the rest of her drink down the toilet.
3 . CLEAN SOMETHING [transitive] to force water through a pipe in order to clean it
flush something through something
They flush clean water through the pipes once a day.
flush somebody/something ↔ out phrasal verb
1 . to make someone leave a place where they are hiding:
The government is determined to flush out the terrorists.
2 . to clean something by forcing water through it:
The heating system needs to be flushed out once a year.
Drinking water helps flush out toxins from the body.
III. flush 3 BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Probably from ⇨ ↑ flush 1 ]
1 . if two surfaces are flush, they are at exactly the same level, so that the place where they meet is flat
flush with
Make sure that the cupboard is flush with the wall.
2 . [not before noun] informal if someone is flush, they have plenty of money to spend:
I’m feeling flush at the moment.