QUIZ
GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!
Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.
Question 1 of 9
Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?
Idioms about brush
get the brush, to be rejected or rebuffed: She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.
give the brush, to ignore, rebuff, etc.: If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.
Origin of brush
1First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun brushe, broche, brosc, probably to be identified with brush2, 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 (see brush2)
OTHER WORDS FROM brush
brush·a·ble, adjectivebrusher, nounbrushlike, adjectiveun·brush·a·ble, adjectiveWords nearby brush
Brunswick, Brunswick stew, brunt, Brusa, bruschetta, brush, brush aside, brushback, brush biopsy, brush border, brush broom
Other definitions for brush (2 of 3)
brush2
[ bruhsh ]
/ brʌʃ /
noun
a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.
a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.
bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, especially close to the ground.
Also called brushland . land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.
backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.
Origin of brush
2First 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. brush1
OTHER WORDS FROM brush
brush·i·ness, nounOther definitions for brush (3 of 3)
Brush
[ bruhsh ]
/ brʌʃ /
noun
Katharine, 1902–52, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
WHEN TO USE
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.
How to use brush in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for brush (1 of 2)
brush1
/ (brʌʃ) /
noun
verb
Derived forms of brush
brusher, nounbrushlike, adjectiveWord Origin for brush
C14: from Old French broisse, perhaps from broce brush ²
British Dictionary definitions for brush (2 of 2)
brush2
/ (brʌʃ) /
noun
a thick growth of shrubs and small trees; scrub
land covered with scrub
broken or cut branches or twigs; brushwood
wooded sparsely populated country; backwoods
Word Origin for brush
C16 (dense undergrowth), C14 (cuttings of trees): from Old French broce, from Vulgar Latin bruscia (unattested) brushwood
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with brush
brush
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.