/ flʌʃ; NAmE / verb , noun , adjective
■ verb
1.
( of a person or their face ) to become red, especially because you are embarrassed, angry or hot :
[ v ]
She flushed with anger.
[ v - adj ]
Sam felt her cheeks flush red.
[also vn ]
2.
[ v , vn ] when a toilet flushes or you flush it, water passes through it to clean it, after a handle, etc. has been pressed
3.
[ vn ] flush sth out (with sth) | flush sth through sth to clean sth by causing water to pass through it :
Flush the pipe out with clean water.
Flush clean water through the pipe.
4.
[ vn + adv. / prep. ] to get rid of sth with a sudden flow of water :
They flushed the drugs down the toilet.
Drinking lots of water will help to flush toxins out of the body.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- flush sb/sth out (of sth) | flush sb/sth out
■ noun
1.
[ C , usually sing. ] a red colour that appears on your face or body because you are embarrassed, excited or hot :
A pink flush spread over his cheeks.
—see also hot flush
2.
[ C , usually sing. ] a sudden strong feeling; the hot feeling on your face or body caused by this :
a flush of anger / embarrassment / enthusiasm / guilt
3.
[ sing. ] the act of cleaning a toilet with a sudden flow of water :
Give the toilet a flush.
4.
[ C ] ( in card games ) a set of cards that a player has that are all of the same suit
•
IDIOMS
- (in) the first flush of sth
■ adjective [ not before noun ]
1.
( informal ) having a lot of money, usually for a short time
2.
flush with sth ( of two surfaces ) completely level with each other :
Make sure the paving stones are flush with the lawn.
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun senses 1 to 3 and verb Middle English (in the sense move rapidly, spring up , especially of a bird fly up suddenly ): symbolic, fl- frequently beginning words connected with sudden movement; perhaps influenced by flash and blush .
adjective mid 16th cent. (in the sense perfect, lacking nothing ).
noun sense 4 `early 16th cent.: from French flux (formerly flus ), from Latin fluxus a flow (see flux : the use in cards can be compared with English run ).