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• brush fire
  brush fire

  noun

  a fire in an area of bushes, shrubs, or brush, as distinct from a forest fire.
• brush-fire
  brush-fire

  adjective

  limited in scope, area, or importance, as some labor disputes or local skirmishes.

brush fire

¹ American  

noun

1. a fire in an area of bushes, shrubs, or brush, as distinct from a forest fire.

2. any small but persistent problem, as within a large organization, a department of a government, or between nations.

   border skirmishes and other international brush fires.

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brush-fire ² American  

[bruhsh-fahy^uhr] / ˈbrʌʃˌfaɪər /

Or brushfire

adjective

1. limited in scope, area, or importance, as some labor disputes or local skirmishes.

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brush fire British  

noun

1. a fire in bushes and scrub

2. a minor local war

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Etymology

Origin of brush fire¹

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80

Origin of brush-fire²

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brush fire brush-fire

Reports in French media say the blaze, near one of the parking lots at the airport, originated from a brush fire and then spread to a building.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Los Angeles firefighters were called just after 2 p.m. to the 2800 block of Palmer Drive after receiving calls of a one-acre brush fire burning uphill near homes, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

A second brush fire was reported in the Juniper Springs area of Riverside County at 12:20 p.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

A brush fire broke out Monday in the suburbs of Los Angeles, spreading rapidly and prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders for thousands of residents.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

But this time, it spread fast as a brush fire on a windy day.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

This approach would mimic the brush-fire pattern of the epidemic at the moment.

From Washington Post

With the economies of Europe as well as the U.S. already in trouble, a brush-fire trade war is the last thing that any government would like to see erupt.

From Time Magazine Archive

But then the Charger's job is no more modern than its look; the turboprop plane is a jungle fighter, a volunteer for the brush-fire wars of today's world.

From Time Magazine Archive

One reason: a brush-fire price war has broken out among the airlines.

From Time Magazine Archive

Quietly she sat in her cottage and heard, when the rumble of the outgoing wagons had died away, nothing but the buzzing of flies and the crackling of the brush-fire on her hearth.

From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19 by Various