bush

¹

[boosh]

noun

1. a low plant with many branches that arise from or near the ground.

2. a small cluster of shrubs appearing as a single plant.

3. something resembling or suggesting this, as a thick, shaggy head of hair.

4. Also called bush lot. Canadian.,  a small, wooded lot, especially a farm lot with trees left standing to provide firewood, fence posts, etc.

5. the tail of a fox; brush.

6. Geography.,  a stretch of uncultivated land covered with mixed plant growth, bushy vegetation, trees, etc.

7. a large uncleared area thickly covered with mixed plant growth, trees, etc., as a jungle.

8. a large, sparsely populated area most of which is uncleared, as areas of Australia and Alaska.

9. a tree branch hung as a sign before a tavern or vintner's shop.

10. any tavern sign.

11. Slang: Vulgar.,  pubic hair.

12. Archaic.,  a wineshop.

verb (used without object)

1. to be or become bushy; branch or spread as or like a bush.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover, protect, support, or mark with a bush or bushes.

adjective

1. bush-league.

bush

²

[boosh]

noun

1. a lining of metal or the like set into an orifice to guard against wearing by friction, erosion, etc.

2. bushing.

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with a bush; line with metal.

Bush

³

[boosh]

noun

1. Barbara Barbara Pierce, 1925–2018, U.S. First Lady 1989–93 (wife of George H. W. Bush and mother of George W. Bush).

2. George (Herbert Walker), 1924–2018, U.S. politician: vice president 1981–89; 41st president of the United States 1989–93.

3. George W(alker), born 1946, U.S. businessman and politician: governor of Texas 1994–2001; 43rd president of the United States 2001–09 (son of George H. W. Bush).

4. Laura Laura Lane Welch, born 1946, U.S. First Lady 2001–09 (wife of George W. Bush).

5. Vannevar 1890–1974, U.S. electrical engineer: education and research administrator.

bush.

⁴

abbreviation

1. bushel; bushels.

bush

¹

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. a dense woody plant, smaller than a tree, with many branches arising from the lower part of the stem; shrub

2. a dense cluster of such shrubs; thicket

3. something resembling a bush, esp in density

   a bush of hair

4. 1. an uncultivated or sparsely settled area, esp in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada: usually covered with trees or shrubs, varying from open shrubby country to dense rainforest

   2. ( as modifier )

      bush flies

5. Also called: bush lot.  woodlot. an area of land on a farm on which timber is grown and cut

6. a forested area; woodland

7. informal,  the countryside, as opposed to the city

   out in the bush

8. a fox's tail; brush

9. obsolete

   1. a bunch of ivy hung as a vintner's sign in front of a tavern

   2. any tavern sign

10. to avoid the point at issue; prevaricate

adjective

1. informal,  rough-and-ready

2. informal,  ignorant or stupid, esp as considered typical of unwesternized rustic life

3. informal,  unprofessional, unpolished, or second-rate

4. informal

   1. to abandon city amenities and live rough

   2. to run wild

verb

1. (intr) to grow thick and bushy

2. (tr) to cover, decorate, support, etc, with bushes

3. (tr) to camp out in the bush

Bush

²

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. George . born 1924, US Republican politician; vice president of the US (1981–89): 41st president of the US (1989–93)

2. his son, George W ( alker ). born 1946, US Republican politician; 43rd president of the US (2001–09)

bush

³

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. Also called (esp US and Canadian): bushing. a thin metal sleeve or tubular lining serving as a bearing or guide

verb

1. to fit a bush to (a casing, bearing, etc)

Other Word Forms

• bushless adjective
• bushlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bush¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English busshe, Old English busc (in placenames); cognate with Dutch bos “wood,” German Busch “bush,” Medieval Latin boscus “wood” (compare French bois, Italian bosco, Portuguese, Spanish bosque ), Old Norse buskr “bush”

Origin of bush²

First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle Dutch bussche; box ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bush¹

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse buski , Old High German busc , Middle Dutch bosch ; related to Old French bosc wood, Italian bosco

Origin of bush²

C15: from Middle Dutch busse box, bush; related to German Büchse tin, Swedish hjulbōssa wheel-box, Late Latin buxis _box ¹

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. beat the bushes, to scout or search for persons or things far and wide.

   I've been beating the bushes for a skilled, honest, inexpensive renovator.

2. beat around / about the bush, to avoid coming to the point; delay in approaching a subject directly.

   Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want.

3. go bush,

   1. to flee or escape into the bush.

   2. Slang. to become wild.

see beat around the bush; beat the bushes for; bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Example Sentences

There we saw it, the blue of the lake shimmering through the pines and wild blackberry bushes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He has spent a lifetime craving answers, but doesn't want to find them here among the tall trees, creek and bushes.

Read more on BBC

They had previously been characterized as entirely herbivorous, like gorillas, Goodall observed them hunting, killing and eating small mammals such as bush pigs and colobus monkeys, by any standard a complicated collaborative enterprise.

Read more on Salon

It turned out to be a baby bush pig.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Unlike me, with my sad little balcony lined with wilted pots of herbs, he had proper outdoor space — and a neighbor whose blackberry bush slouched lazily over the fence, heavy with fruit.

Read more on Salon