brush 1
— brushable , adj. — brusher , n. — brushlike , adj.
/brush/ , n.
1. an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.
2. one 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.
3. the bushy tail of an animal, esp. of a fox.
4. Elect.
a. 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.
b. See brush discharge .
5. a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.
6. an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.
7. a light, stroking touch.
8. a brief encounter: He has already had one brush with the law.
9. a close approach, esp. to something undesirable or harmful: a brush with disaster.
10. get the brush , to be rejected or rebuffed: She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.
11. give the brush , to ignore, rebuff, etc.: If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.
v.t.
12. to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.
13. to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over: His lips brushed her ear.
14. to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over: His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.
v.i.
15. to move or skim with a slight contact.
16. brush aside , to disregard; ignore: Our complaints were simply brushed aside.
17. brush off , to rebuff; send away: She had never been brushed off so rudely before.
18. brush up on , to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.): She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis.
Also, brush up .
[ 1350-1400; (n.) ME brusshe, prob. to be identified with BRUSH 2 , if orig. sense was implement made from twigs, etc., culled from brushwood; (v.) ME brushen to hasten, rush, prob. brosser to travel (through brush), v. deriv. of broce (see BRUSH 2 ) ]
Syn. 8. engagement, action, skirmish. See struggle .
brush 2
— brushiness , n.
/brush/ , n.
1. a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.
2. a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.
3. bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, esp. close to the ground.
4. Also called brushland . land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.
5. backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.
[ 1350-1400; ME brusshe broisse, OF broce underbrush (cf. AF brousson wood, brusseie heath), perh. bruscia excrescences, deriv. of L bruscum knot or excrescence on a maple tree ]