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  • wire brush
    wire brush
    noun
    a brush with steel bristles for removing rust, flaking paint, etc.
  • wire-brush
    wire-brush
    verb (used with object)
    to clean or remove with a wire brush.

wire brush

1 American  

noun

  1. a brush with steel bristles for removing rust, flaking paint, etc.


wire-brush 2 American  
[wahyuhr-bruhsh] / ˈwaɪərˈbrʌʃ /

verb (used with object)

  1. to clean or remove with a wire brush.


wire brush British  

noun

  1. a brush having wire bristles, used for cleaning metal, esp for removing rust, or for brushing against a cymbal

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Then clean off rust or mineral deposits on the shower arm with a wire brush, wrap plumber’s tape around the threads of the arm and screw the new shower head on.

From Washington Post Jun. 30, 2022

Colton Morris, 28, knelt on the concrete floor of a warehouse in rural Ohio, carefully combing the fur on a pile of coyote pelts with a wire brush before putting them up for auction.

From The Guardian Mar. 19, 2019

Mr. Carluccio held court with passers-by, as he squirted the paint onto the bumpy canvas, and then used a coarse wire brush to work it into the rough contours of the cover’s crevices and ridges.

From New York Times Jun. 27, 2018

At the Spring Avenue house, he took out all the original door knobs, soaked them and cleaned them with a wire brush.

From Washington Times Aug. 21, 2017

The brutal afternoon workouts left him exhausted and sore but feeling cleansed, as if someone had scrubbed out his soul with a stiff wire brush.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

A power drill or grinder motor with a wire-brush attachment will save a lot of elbow grease, but smaller tools can be taken care of by hand.

From Seattle Times Dec. 6, 2014

He is a tall, thin man with a wire-brush shock of cherry-soda colored hair and a look of permanent seriousness.

From New York Times Jan. 8, 2011

The wire-brush never flags; And what's the result?

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 104, January 7, 1893 by Sir F. C. (Francis Cowley) Burnand

Through the long aching minutes nothing whatever happened, and her wire-brush tail returned slowly to its proper shape.

From Traffics and Discoveries by Rudyard Kipling

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