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• brush
  brush

  noun

  an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.
• Brush
  Brush

  noun

  Katharine, 1902–52, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

brush

¹ American  

[bruhsh] / brʌʃ /

noun

1. an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.

2. one of a pair of devices consisting of long, thin handles with wire bristles attached, used in jazz or dance bands for keeping a soft, rhythmic beat on the trap drums or the cymbals.

3. the bushy tail of an animal, especially of a fox.

4. Electricity.

   1. a conductor, often made of carbon or copper or a combination of the two, serving to maintain electric contact between stationary and moving parts of a machine, generator, or other apparatus.

   2. brush discharge.

5. a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.

6. an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.

7. a light, stroking touch.

8. a brief conflict or fight; skirmish.

   He has already had one brush with the law.

   Synonyms:

   encounter, action, engagement

9. a close approach, especially to something undesirable or harmful.

   a brush with disaster.

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verb (used with object)

• brushes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• brushed,
  past participle,  past
• brushing
  present participle

1. to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.

2. to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over.

   His lips brushed her ear.

3. to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over.

   His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.

verb (used without object)

• brushes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• brushed,
  past participle,  past
• brushing
  present participle

1. to move or skim with a slight contact.

verb phrase

1. brush up on to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.): Also brush up.

   She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis.

2. brush off to rebuff; send away.

   She had never been brushed off so rudely before.

3. brush aside to disregard; ignore.

   Our complaints were simply brushed aside.

idioms

1. get the brush, to be rejected or rebuffed.

   She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.

2. give the brush, to ignore, rebuff, etc..

   If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.

brush ² American  

[bruhsh] / brʌʃ /

noun

1. a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.

2. a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.

3. bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, especially close to the ground.

4. Also called brushland.  land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.

5. backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.

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Brush ³ American  

[bruhsh] / brʌʃ /

noun

1. Katharine, 1902–52, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

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brush ¹ British  

/ brʌʃ /

noun

1. a device made of bristles, hairs, wires, etc, set into a firm back or handle: used to apply paint, clean or polish surfaces, groom the hair, etc

2. the act or an instance of brushing

3. a light stroke made in passing; graze

4. a brief encounter or contact, esp an unfriendly one; skirmish

5. the bushy tail of a fox, often kept as a trophy after a hunt, or of certain breeds of dog

6. an electric conductor, esp one made of carbon, that conveys current between stationary and rotating parts of a generator, motor, etc

7. a dark brush-shaped region observed when a biaxial crystal is viewed through a microscope, caused by interference between beams of polarized light

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verb

1. (tr) to clean, polish, scrub, paint, etc, with a brush

2. (tr) to apply or remove with a brush or brushing movement

   brush the crumbs off the table

3. (tr) to touch lightly and briefly

4. (intr) to move so as to graze or touch something lightly

brush ² British  

/ brʌʃ /

noun

1. a thick growth of shrubs and small trees; scrub

2. land covered with scrub

3. broken or cut branches or twigs; brushwood

4. wooded sparsely populated country; backwoods

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brush More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing brush

• give someone the air (brush off)
• have a brush with
• tarred with the same brush

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Usage

What are other ways to say brush? A brush is a brief encounter or skirmish. How does brush compare to struggle and clash? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• brusher
  noun
• brushiness
  noun
• brushable
  adjective
• brushlike
  adjective
• unbrushable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• brushing
  present
• brushed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brush
  simple
• brushes
  simple
• have brushed
  perfect
• has brushed
  perfect
• am brushing
  progressive
• are brushing
  progressive
• is brushing
  progressive
• have been brushing
  perfect progressive
• has been brushing
  perfect progressive

Past

• brushed
  simple
• had brushed
  perfect
• was brushing
  progressive
• were brushing
  progressive
• had been brushing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brush
  simple
• will have brushed
  perfect
• will be brushing
  progressive
• will have been brushing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of brush¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun brushe, broche, brosc, probably to be identified with brush ², if the original sense was “implement made from twigs, etc., culled from brushwood”; Middle English verb brushen “to hasten, rush,” probably from Old French brosser “to travel (through brush),” derivative of broce ( brush ² )

Origin of brush²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English brushe, bro(c)che “brushwood, thicket”; from Middle French broisse, Old French broce “underbrush” (compare Anglo-French brousson “wood,” brusseie “heath”), perhaps from unattested Vulgar Latin bruscia “excrescences,” derivative of Latin bruscum “knot or excrescence on a maple tree”; cf. brush ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

Use the noun brush when you want to refer to a quick, light touch. If you are comforting someone you don't know well, you can give their arm a quick brush to show sympathy. The noun brush can refer to a thick growth of scrub vegetation. You'll have to clear away the brush if you want to plant a garden there. As a verb, brush can mean to sweep, either literally or metaphorically. You can brush the dirt from the floor, but you can't just brush away your past misdeeds. The verb also means to touch lightly. If you are baking and you brush your hand across your cheek, chances are you'll leave a trail of flour there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

brush Brush brushes brushed brushing

They developed a pump mechanism and gravity-free tank that works no matter the angle the brush is held at to control the flow.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Although they premiered more than 20 years apart, the television shows “Bluey” and “South Park” have been tarred with the “millennial” brush.

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026

More than 900 firefighters were tackling the blaze, using fire engines, helicopters and bulldozers, in an effort to clear the tinder-dry brush.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

And is he financially literate, or does he need to brush up on the basics, too?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

I tried to brush off the feeling, especially when I sat with my aunts in the warmth of their home, eating their good food, and watching their magical spinning and knitting and weaving.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Brush clearance is required nationwide, but local fire departments rarely pester property owners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

Brush up on the EES system before your trip.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Among the highest-priced lots were paintings featuring The Clangers and Noggin the Nog, while a signed Basil Brush artwork, showing the cheerful fox chatting to a mole, sold for £6,000.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Michael Brush listed various factors that could support a continuing bull market for technology stocks, while adding a warning about one particular Big Tech darling.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

I had saved my biggest valentine—the one we were supposed to take home to our mothers—and gave it to my teacher, Mrs. Brush.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

After so long on the road, driving past despair dotted along the road’s shoulders, Day brushes off a cry for help with a joke.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

When we wonder about his Ukrainian surname, he brushes that off as irrelevant.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

After collecting the cells, the team removes the material from the brushes and uses forensic-level, next-generation sequencing technologies to isolate and amplify genetic sequences.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

The Chief brushes past this inconsistency, but the decision could prompt legal challenges to Fed banking regulation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

We put on our playclothes, still splattered with paint from yesterday, then grabbed the brushes and went around the house to the places we hadn’t finished the day before.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce

They brushed off her concerns, she said, citing Maisa’s good grades, verbal sophistication and empathy as evidence that she couldn’t be autistic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

"Everything we thought has been brushed under the carpet and moved to one side, we are pretty much back to square one."

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Ackman, with Israel, brushed aside worries around a stablecoin threat, saying crypto is growing in places where cards aren’t incumbent.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

Warsh has brushed off the threat that the Fed’s independence faces from the White House.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

He swooped over Nim, so low that his wings brushed her hair, and so slowly that she could pull the letter out of the band.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Ten tackles a game last season became as routine as brushing his teeth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

After initially brushing off LLMs, DeepMind was developing its own chatbots.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Brown-Forman and a group of Brown family shareholders issued a joint statement brushing off Sazerac’s unsolicited proposal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

These included repeated brushing, chewing forces, and contact with acidic foods that can gradually dissolve enamel.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026

The stable was loud and busy again, with servants unsaddling horses, feeding and brushing them.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• caress
• flick
• kiss
• scrape
• shave
• skim
• smooth
• sweep