/ brʌʃ; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
[ C ] an object made of short stiff hairs (called bristles ) or wires set in a block of wood or plastic, usually attached to a handle. Brushes are used for many different jobs, such as cleaning, painting and tidying your hair :
a paintbrush
a hairbrush
a toothbrush
brush strokes (= the marks left by a brush when painting)
a dustpan and brush
Apply the paint with a fine brush.
2.
[ sing. ] an act of brushing :
to give your teeth a good brush
3.
[ sing. ] a light touch made in passing sth/sb :
the brush of his lips on her cheek
4.
[ C ] brush with sb/sth a short unfriendly meeting with sb; an occasion when you nearly experience sth unpleasant :
She had a nasty brush with her boss this morning.
In his job he's had frequent brushes with death.
a brush with the law
5.
[ U ] land covered by small trees or bushes :
a brush fire
6.
[ C ] the tail of a fox
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IDIOMS
see daft adjective , paint verb , tar verb
■ verb
1.
to clean, polish, or make smooth with a brush :
[ vn ]
to brush your hair / teeth / shoes
[ vn - adj ]
A tiled floor is easy to brush clean.
2.
[ vn ] brush A with B | brush B over A to put sth, for example oil, milk or egg, on sth using a brush :
Brush the pastry with beaten egg.
Brush beaten egg over the pastry.
3.
[ vn + adv. / prep. ] to remove sth from a surface with a brush or with your hand :
He brushed the dirt off his jacket.
She brushed the fly away.
4.
brush (against / by / past) sb/sth to touch sb/sth lightly while moving close to them / it :
[ v ]
She brushed past him.
His hand accidentally brushed against hers.
[ vn ]
The leaves brushed her cheek.
He brushed her lips with his.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- brush sb/sth aside
- brush sb / yourself down
- brush sth down
- brush off
- brush sb off
- brush sb / yourself off
- brush sth up | brush up on sth
••
WORD ORIGIN
verb and noun senses 1 to 4 noun sense 6 Middle English : noun from Old French broisse ; verb partly from Old French brosser to sweep.
noun sense 5 Middle English : from Old French broce , perhaps based on Latin bruscum , denoting an excrescence on a maple.