an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.
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.
the bushy tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
Electricity.
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.
a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.
an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.
a light, stroking touch.
a brief conflict or fight; skirmish.
He has already had one brush with the law.
a close approach, especially to something undesirable or harmful.
a brush with disaster.
to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.
to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over.
His lips brushed her ear.
to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over.
His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.
brush up on to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.): Also brush up.
She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis.
brush off to rebuff; send away.
She had never been brushed off so rudely before.
brush aside to disregard; ignore.
Our complaints were simply brushed aside.
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.
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.
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
the act or an instance of brushing
a light stroke made in passing; graze
a brief encounter or contact, esp an unfriendly one; skirmish
the bushy tail of a fox, often kept as a trophy after a hunt, or of certain breeds of dog
an electric conductor, esp one made of carbon, that conveys current between stationary and rotating parts of a generator, motor, etc
a dark brush-shaped region observed when a biaxial crystal is viewed through a microscope, caused by interference between beams of polarized light
(tr) to clean, polish, scrub, paint, etc, with a brush
(tr) to apply or remove with a brush or brushing movement
brush the crumbs off the table
(tr) to touch lightly and briefly
(intr) to move so as to graze or touch something lightly
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
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.
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 )
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. )
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tuchel was quick to brush off Trump's criticisms when mentioned to him in a news conference later.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Roll one corner of a tissue into a long, fine point and gently brush it across the tiny hairs around your lips.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Split the lobsters lengthwise with a sharp, heavy knife, brush them with butter and grill them once your guests have arrived, since they cook very quickly.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
He took the extra time to brush his teeth and comb his hair, before putting on his blue jumpsuit and getting ushered into a van in handcuffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Marco Rossi was in the third ring, hosing down an elephant and scrubbing her wrinkled gray skin with a long-handled deck brush.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Brush has suggested AAT in his stock newsletter, Brush Up on Stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 8, 2026
Don’t know your ‘jumping hours’ from your ‘world timers’? Brush up with this cheat sheet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Marsden had a "penchant for different architectural styles", Richardson said, where he had done something similar at a property in Merseyside coined "the Brush Castle".
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026
Brush fires on Long Island were linked to someone making backyard s’mores.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2025
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
But Pyrtsu -- who said he did not bring a first aid kit -- brushes off the idea of a strike.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
With Brunon’s guidance, they began by drawing small-scale sketches, and eventually they were dipping brushes into cans of paint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2026
Tommy, who used acrylic paint and a mixture of brushes and sponges to achieve different textures, said: 'I just wanted to make something colourful, plus feet are easier to draw than faces!
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Carmakers including BMW and Renault have developed EV motors that work in the same way, using carbon-graphite brushes that slide against the rotor to feed it electricity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Babs goes to sit on the side of Mom’s bed and brushes her hair away from her face like Mom always does for me.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
In five meetings over the previous half-century, the Three Lions had brushed the Norwegians aside by a combined score of 24-2.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
But when French President Emmanuel Macron announced the loan almost exactly a year ago, he brushed aside the warnings to celebrate Franco-British relations, 10 years after the bitter Brexit referendum.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
After Mexico brushed aside Ecuador to reach the last 16 of the World Cup, some of their celebrating fans already had an eye on their potential next opponents.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Still, Skogmo brushed off the prices, noting that this level of spending was “special for the World Cup.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Then, I brushed every single sheep and rubbed their wool with mountain lion bait.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
There, Chip stands in front of the cheese case for a moment, brushing past the string cheese and the Parmesan shakers before settling on a packet of American singles.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
"They're just brushing it all under the carpet," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
They are far more likely caused by forceful brushing, acidic drinks and processed diets than by natural chewing forces.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
Czernowitz was by then a Habsburg afterimage: Jews, Germans, Romanians, Ukrainians and Poles, brushing past one another in schools, markets and cafes, their lives conducted in competing alphabets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Mom came through the back door, brushing her hands on her pants.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
