brush
English · Thesaurus
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brush¹
- /bɹʌʃ/ US, UK
- /bɹɐʃ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /bɹʊʃ/ Northern England
- /bɹɛʃ/ dialectal, obsolete
Rhymes with -ʌʃ
Where it comes from
From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.
noun brushes
- An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.
- The act of brushing something. She gave her hair a quick brush.
- A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
-
A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
If there was a sharp point nearby, electricity would stream from it in a luminous brush, a little corposant, and one could blow out candles with the outstreaming “electric wind,” or even get this to turn a little rotor on its pivot.
Similar: corposant
- Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland. We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.
- A short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience. brush with death
- The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox. it is curious to remark that a fox, when pleased, expresses his pleasure by wagging his brush, as a dog wags his tail.
- A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
- A short contest, or trial, of speed. 1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage (originally published in Cornhill Magazine Mark and Lord Lufton had been boys together, and his lordship knew that Mark in his heart would enjoy a brush across the country quite as well as he himself.
- An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals.
- An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture. Your bitmap image appears along the painted stroke. If you'd like to permanently create a custom sprite brush, it's fairly easy to adapt an existing MEL file[…].
- A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality. to download brushes for Photoshop
- In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area.
- The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino.
- Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths.
verb brushes · brushing · brushed
- To clean with a brush. Brush your teeth.
- To untangle or arrange with a brush. Brush your hair.
- To apply with a brush. I am brushing the paint onto the walls.
- To remove with a sweeping motion. She brushed the flour off my clothes.
- To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing. Her scarf brushed his skin.
- To clean one's teeth by brushing them. Of course, Halloween does not have to be completely treatless. Plain chocolate candy is okay, provided you remember to brush afterwards.
Brush²
proper noun Brushes
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sweep, copse, thicket, coppice, brushwood, clash, skirmish, kiss, encounter, light touch, hairbrush, toothbrush, blade, wash, basket, bathe
Translations
Every language
noun implement
| Español | pincel, cepillo, escobilla, brocha, sedera, bruza |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 솔 sol, 브러시 beureosi |
| 日本語 | 刷子, 刷毛 hake, ブラシ burashi |
| 中文 | 刷子 shuāzi, 刷 shuā |
| हिन्दी | ब्रश braś, बुरुश buruś, झाड़ू jhāṛū |
| Kiswahili | burashi, brashi |
| Português | brocha, escova, pincel |
| Français | brosse |
| Deutsch | Bürste, (paint-) Pinsel |
| Italiano | spazzola, pennello |
| Ελληνικά | βούρτσα voúrtsa, πινέλο pinélo |
| Română | perie, (paint-) pensulă |
| Русский | щётка ščótka, кисть kistʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | bàn chải, cọ |
| العربية | فُرْشَاة furšāh |
| עברית | מִבְרֶשֶׁת mivréshet |
noun act of brushing
| Español | cepillado |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | ブラシがけ burashigake, 磨き migaki |
| Português | escovada, escovamento, escovadela, pincelada |
| Français | brossage |
| Ελληνικά | βούρτσισμα voúrtsisma |
| Română | periat |
| עברית | הברשה havrashá |
noun electrical contact
| Español | escobilla |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | ブラシ burashi, 刷子 sasshi |
| Português | escova |
| Deutsch | Bürste |
| Română | perie |
| Русский | щётка ščótka |
noun wild vegetation
| Español | matorral |
|---|---|
| Português | mato |
| Français | buisson |
| Deutsch | Busch, Gebüsch, Gestrüpp |
| Ελληνικά | θαμνότοπος thamnótopos, λόχμη lóchmi |
| Русский | куст kust, куста́рник kustárnik |
noun short experience
| Español | roce, encuentro |
|---|---|
| Português | encontro |
| Français | accrochage |
| Italiano | incontro, scontro |
| Русский | столкновение stolknovenije |
verb to clean (with a brush)
| Español | cepillar, acepillar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 磨く migaku |
| 中文 | 刷 shuā |
| Português | escovar |
| Français | brosser |
| Deutsch | putzen, bürsten |
| Italiano | spazzolare |
| Ελληνικά | βουρτσίζω vourtsízo |
| Română | peria |
| Русский | чи́стить čístitʹ, почи́стить počístitʹ |
| العربية | فَرَشَ faraša |
| עברית | הִבְרִישׁ hivrísh |
verb to untangle/arrange
| Español | cepillar, acepillar |
|---|---|
| Português | escovar |
| Français | brosser, se brosser |
| Deutsch | bürsten |
| Italiano | spazzolare, spazzolarsi |
| Română | peria |
| العربية | مَشَّطَ maššaṭa |
Talk about this word "brush." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/brush. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026. brush. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/brush "brush." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/brush.Cite this
@misc{brush_2026,
title = {brush},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/brush},
urldate = {2026-11-05}
}
