I. ˈbrash, -aa(ə)-, -ai- noun
( -es )
Etymology: obsolete English brash to breach a wall, probably from Middle French breche breach — more at breach
1. dialect Britain
a. : attack , bout
b. : a burst of activity
2.
a. chiefly Scotland : an attack of illness ; especially : a short severe illness
b. : water brash
3. chiefly Scotland : a sudden shower
4. : a mass of fragments or debris: as
a. or brash ice : small floating fragments of ice especially near an ice pack or floe
b. : clippings of hedges or prunings of trees
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
: to remove the lower branches of (a tree)
III. adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. of wood : characterized by unusual brittleness and low resistance to shock : brittle
2.
a. : prone to act in headlong fashion : impetuous
a brash young cavalry commander
: foolhardy
no one was brash enough to pick a fight with him
b. : made or done in haste and with little thought or regard for consequences : rash
brash tactics
meantime you better avoid doing anything brash — Sinclair Lewis
3.
a. : full of fresh raw vitality : ebullient
a brash and teeming frontier town
b. : inclined to be uninhibitedly showy or demonstrative : bumptious
a delightfully brash comedian
4.
a. : lacking restraint and discernment : tactless
he made a brash speech … and told some thunderingly tasteless anecdotes about his wife — Time
b. : shamelessly self-assertive : impudent
an adolescent brash to the point of arrogance
c. : lacking refinement, polish, or finesse : coarse
speaking in brash and raucous accents
5.
a. : piercingly sharp : blatant
a brash squeal of brakes
b. : loudly assertive : blustering
the brash prophets of political utopias
6. : marked by vivid contrast or distinctness of outline : bold
brash color
Synonyms: see shameless