brushn.¹

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/

Forms: Middle English brusche, 1500s brushe, 1500s– brush.

Etymology: Middle English brusche , < Old French brosse, broce, broche brushwood (whence modern French broussailles : see brushal n.). Diez cites Provençal brossa , Spanish broza , Italian brustia , brushwood. Du Cange has medieval Latin bruscia , brocia , brossia , brozia , brucia , all in same sense. Diez takes the late Latin type as *brustia , and refers it to Old High German burst , bursta bristle; compare Middle High German bürste brush. If his conjectures are correct, brosse ‘brush’ and brosse ‘brushwood’ were originally identical; but as their history in English shows no contact, it appears better here to treat them apart: see brush n.²

a. Loppings of trees or hedges; cut brushwood. Now in U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > pruning or lopping > prunings or loppings

shreddingc950

trouse978

stickc1175

rammelc1250

spray1297

brush1330

shriding1340

shridels1399

lopc1420

shraggingc1440

shroud1475

tops1485

polling1557

brutting1577

lopping1589

pruning1658

toppings1668

scorel1671

loppage1683

lop-wood1693

shrouding1725

cropping1768

1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (Rolls Ser.) 8338 Þey comaunded to al men lyk Wiþ brusch to come, & fylle þe dyk.

c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 54 Brusche, bruscus.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 201/2 Brushe to make brushes on, brvyère.

1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 606 One sin helps to kindle another; the lesse the greater, as the brush the logges.

1830 in W. Cobbet Rur. Rides (1885) II. 298 [To] supply the farm with poles and brush, and with everything wanted in the way of fuel.

1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. iii. ii. 185 The two boys would be found serviceable, either in collecting the brush or in burning off the logs.

1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Brush, for brushwood, is an Americanism, and..comprises also branches of trees.

1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall 7/1 Brush, dried furze used for fires.

b. A faggot or bavin of such brushwood. Cf. brash n.²

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun]

woodc888

trouse978

stickc1175

spray1297

spraya1300

firewood1377

lopc1420

billet1465

buchette1507

bag-wood1525

bavin1573

brushment1591

brushwood1616

burning-wood1642

firebote1661

chump1680

lop-wood1693

brush1699

burn-wood1701

lightwood1705

shravel1732

billet-wood1759

hedge-wood1785

pine knot1791

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun] > a pile, stack, or bundle

faggotc1312

kida1350

faggald1488

bavin1528

woodpile1552

fire pile1577

brush-faggot1606

stalder1611

figate1645

kid-stack1653

stack-wood1664

brush1699

bavin-band1725

pimpa1731

bavin-stack1759

bundle-wood1879

wood-heap1943

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush, a small Faggot, to light the other at Taverns.

1748 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 4) I. 138 Small light Bavins..are called in the Taverns a Brush.

2. The small growing trees or shrubs of a wood; a thicket of small trees or underwood. (Esp. in U.S., Canada, and Australia.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > wood or assemblage of trees or shrubs > [noun] > brushwood, scrub, or underwood

ronea1300

underwooda1325

rammel1338

brushetc1380

scroga1400

bushailec1400

frithing1429

brushal1430

brushc1440

ronec1440

thevec1440

garsil1483

shroga1500

cablish1594

south-bois1598

undergrowth1600

frith1605

hand timber1664

subbois1664

urith1671

brushwood1732

bush-wood1771

underbrush1775

slop1784

woodiness1796

scrub1805

shag1836

chaparral1845

underbush1849

underscrub1870

sand-brush1871

buck-brush1874

bush1879

horizontal scrub1888

tangle-wood1894

shin-tangle1905

c1440 [see sense 1a]. 1530 [see sense 1a].

1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. vi. f. 105 The inhabiters of the countrey were accustumed to creape amonges the brush like wilde bestes.

1613 J. Sylvester Elegie Sir W. Sidney in Lachrymae Lachrymarum (new ed.) sig. I2 Brush and Bryars (good for nought at all).

1702 Eng. Theophrastus 374 You shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and brushes.

1768 C. Beatty Jrnl. Two Months' Tour 35 Grown up..with small brush, or under-wood.

1789 J. Wolcot Sir J. Banks & Emp. of Morocco in Wks. Peter Pindar (1816) 479 Mindless of trees, and brushes, and the brambles.

1791 in Amer. Speech 15 161/2 To a white Oak & red Oak near a hollow in the Edge of Brush.

1801 Massachusetts Spy 23 Dec. 3/4 The imprudence of a person who set on fire a quantity of brush, &c. near Cambridge.

1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 58 Brush, and full grown trees.

1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales The timber standing at wide intervals, without any brush or undergrowth.

1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales These plains or brushes are swamps in wet weather.

1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 255 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV All trimming should be performed by striking..in the direction the brush leans.

1887 I. Randall Lady's Ranche Life Montana 8 The bright red of the brush by the river-side.

†3. Stubble. Obsolete or dialect.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > stubble

arrishOE

stub1250

stubble1297

pease stubble?1523

pease-etch1573

gratten1577

stumps1585

brush1686

etch1727

pea stubble1743

pease-eddish1789

stubble1792

shacklea1800

1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 343 They sowe wheat again, upon the brush (as they call it) i.e. upon the peas stubble.

1790 W. Marshall Agric. Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 434 Brush, stubble; as a wheat brush.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

brush-faggot n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun] > a pile, stack, or bundle

faggotc1312

kida1350

faggald1488

bavin1528

woodpile1552

fire pile1577

brush-faggot1606

stalder1611

figate1645

kid-stack1653

stack-wood1664

brush1699

bavin-band1725

pimpa1731

bavin-stack1759

bundle-wood1879

wood-heap1943

1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe iii. sig. E She had as lieue be courted with a brush faggot as with a frenchman.

1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 230 The fire-wood was most of it..brush-faggots out of a wood, and but few of the small bush-faggots.

brush-heap n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > bundle or pile of wood

kida1350

wood-cast1483

woodpile1552

babbin1665

fascine1694

brush-heap1819

brush-pile1865

1819 W. Irving Hist. N. Y. (ed. 3) I. iv. xi. 246 He was a perfect brush-heap in a blaze.

brush house n.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction

thatch-house1521

slate house1554

thack housec1600

frame house1627

log-house1662

straw1665

thatch1693

tin-house1798

fog house1799

leaf house1811

rock house1818

black house1819

blockhouse1821

white house1824

slab-and-bark house1826

brown house1845

brush house1854

soddy1877

hurdle-housea1879

bottle house1913

stucco1922

prefab1942

Portal house1944

Airey1945

yali1962

1854 B. Young in Jrnl. Discourses I. 166 Families went there and lived in wagons and brush houses.

brush-pile n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > bundle or pile of wood

kida1350

wood-cast1483

woodpile1552

babbin1665

fascine1694

brush-heap1819

brush-pile1865

1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys 361 The very chickens run under the fences and the brushpile.

brush stable n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > stabling > stable

horse-housec1175

stablec1250

guest-stable1471

livery stable1661

brush stable1835

livery1888

boarding-stable1903

run-in shed1946

stable block1977

1835 Southern Literary Messenger 1 581 The pony..moves homeward with accelerated velocity, leaping every obstacle in his way to his brush stable.

brush tent n.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > tent > [noun] > other types of tent

tenticle1548

pal1656

marquee1690

gourbi1738

marquise1749

yurt1780

bell-tent1785

kibitka1799

shuldari1808

fly-tent1816

Swiss cottage1820

skin house1826

big tent1843

ridge tent1846

brush tent1862

dog tent1862

shelter tent1862

wall-tent1862

wedge tent1862

pup tent1863

A tent1863

tupik1864

tentlet1879

choom1889

pyramid1889

tortoise tent1890

safari tent1926

tent-sack1940

tent-trailer1963

tepee1970

trailer tent1971

Whillans box1971

1862 Harper's Mag. June 16/1 In the yard..were several chapadens or brush-tents in which whisky, gin,..and other refreshments..were for sale.

1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xix. 310 John A. Lee..had his wife living there in a sort of brush tent.

brush whisky n. U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > illicit whisky

poteen1809

mountain dew1816

poteen whiskey1816

white whisky1822

pine-top1858

white mule1880

wild-cat whisky1881

brush whisky1885

wild cat1887

white lightning1907

1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Great Smoky Mountains xv. 275 The constable's heart was warmed by the brush whiskey.

1913 M. W. Morley Carolina Mts. 66 That important beverage, variously known as..‘blockade’, ‘brush whiskey’, and..‘corn whiskey’.

C2.

brush-apple n. ‘the native Australian wood of Achras australis’ (Treas. Bot.).

ΚΠ

1888 Proc. Linnean Soc. N.S.W. III. 485 ‘Black Apple’, ‘Brush Apple’.

1933 C. W. Peck Austral. Legends (ed. 2) 39 Here he found the Achras australe or Brush Apple.

† brush-bill n. Obsolete a bill for cutting brushwood.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > bill hook

wood-billc725

billc1000

falsartc1380

wood-hookc1440

falchion1483

forest-bill1488

bush-scythe1552

brush-bill1588

cutting-bill1601

bill-hook1611

hook-bill1613

bush-bill1631

hack1846

snagger1847

slasher1858

bush-hook1860

slash-hook1891

1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 65 Pikes, targets, faunchers, brushebilles, holbards.

brush-bush n. a shrub ( Eucryphia pinnata) having pinnate leaves and single white flowers.

brush-cherry n. ‘the native Australian wood of Trochocarpa laurina’ (Treas. Bot.).

brush-fire n. originally U.S. a fire in brush; also transferred; attributive, (of a war) arising suddenly and limited in scale or area.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > bush or forest fire

prairie fire1824

bush-fire1847

brush-fire1850

crown fire1893

red steer1936

society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [adjective] > sudden and limited

brush-fire1955

1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah xix. 238 The spiral smoke..rose from the brushfire.

1947 Chicago Daily News 15 May 1/3 The family outcast is stirring up a brush fire of liberal resentment against the Truman administration.

1955 Times 14 May 7/5 He opposed any reduction in manpower because of the risk of ‘brush fire’ wars.

brush-kangaroo n. a species of kangaroo inhabiting the Australian ‘brush’.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > kangaroo > unspecified and miscellaneous types of

pademelon1802

brush-kangaroo1830

antelope kangaroo1846

euro1855

blue1968

1830 Proc. Royal Geog. Soc. 1 29 These dogs..are particularly useful in catching the bandicoots, the small brush kangaroo, and the opossum.

brush-puller n. a machine for pulling up brushwood by the roots.

brush-scythe n. a scythe or sickle on a shaft for cutting brushwood.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > sickle > types of

staff-hook?1523

pease-hook1545

brush-scythe1573

grass hook1665

swipe1742

twibill1763

pea-hook1840

swap-hook1863

the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > types of

brush-scythe1573

grass scythe1573

cradle-scythe1669

crather1688

bushwhacker1858

1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 15^v A brush sythe, & grasse syth.

brush-turkey n. an Australian bird ( Talegalla lathami).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > [noun] > member of Megapodidae (mound-builder) > talegalla or brush-turkey

Talegalla1840

brush-turkey1847

1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. I. §435 Termed..the Brush Turkey, on account of the wattles with which its neck is furnished.

1852 W. J. Broderip Leaves Note Bk. of Naturalist 139 The brush-turkey belongs to a family of birds..which never incubate, but..leave their eggs to the genial warmth of this half-natural, half artificial mother.

brush-turnip n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > fodder > fodder for sheep

turnip1548

wild turnip1597

broouage1610

French turnip1731–3

brush-turnip1799

break1805

old man saltbush1866

1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 110 To sow..brush turnips, which are not expected to produce any roots, but in the months of March and April afford an excellent food for ewes and lambs.

brush wallaby n. Australian several species of the genus Wallabia, esp. W. rufogrisea, found esp. in coastal brushes.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > genus Wallabia (swamp wallaby)

brush wallaby1896

swamp wallaby1896

1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 221 The Walabee of New South Wales somewhat resembles the Brush Kangaroo of Van Diemen's Land.]

1896 F. G. Aflalo Sketches Nat. Hist. Austral. ii. 40 Into the specific descriptions of the rock, swamp, brush, scrub and other wallabies I shall not enter.

1926 A. S. Le Souef et al. Wild Animals Australasia 189 The red-necked wallaby commonly known as the scrub and in places as the brush wallaby, is found in the drier forest country of Eastern Australia.

1966 V. Serventy Continent in Danger iii. 66 The fleetness of foot of these brush wallabies led them to be hunted for sport.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

brushn.²

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/

Forms: Middle English–1500s brusshe, Middle English brusch(e, 1600s brish, 1500s– brush.

Etymology: Middle English brusshe , < Old French brosse, broisse, identified by most French etymologists with brosse brushwood (see brush n.¹), the sense being supposed to be derived through that of ‘bunch of broom or other shrub used to sweep away dust’: compare broom n. But the history of the French words has not been satisfactorily made out: compare Middle High German bürste feminine ‘brush’, < borste bristle, and see Diez, Littré, Scheler, Brachet.

I. An instrument with tufts of hair affixed, used for brushing or sweeping, and related senses.

a. A utensil consisting of a piece of wood or other suitable material, set with small tufts or bunches of bristles, hair, or the like, for sweeping or scrubbing dust and dirt from a surface; and generally any utensil for brushing or sweeping.Brushes are of many shapes and of various materials according to use; instead of bristles there may be slender wires, vegetable fibres, feathers, etc. They are named according to their use, as clothes-brush, hat-brush, shoe-brush, blacking-brush, hair-brush, nail-brush, tooth-brush, etc. A hard brush has stiff bristles; a soft brush fine and flexible bristles. The chimney-sweep's brush and dust brush pass into a besom.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > [noun] > brush or broom

besomc1000

bast broom1357

brush1377

broom14..

sweepc1475

duster1575

bristle brush1601

broom-besom1693

flag-broom1697

stock-brush1700

whisk1745

birch-broom1747

hair-broom1753

spry1796

corn-broomc1810

pope's head1824

whisker1825

sweeping-brusha1828

swish1844

spoke-brush1851

whisk broom1857

Turk's head1859

wisp1875

tube-brush1877

bass-broom?1881

crumb-brush1884

dusting-brush1907

palmetto brush1913

suede brush1915

swale1949

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > brush

brush1377

hairbrush1599

toilet brush1833

military hairbrush1894

military brush1921

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 460 Whi he ne hadde wasshen it [a coat] or wyped it with a brusshe.

c1485 Inventory in J. T. Fowler Acts Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1875) 369 Unum brusshe, ijd.

1519 W. Horman Vulgaria x. f. 115 Olde men brusshed theyr dustye clothes with cowe tayles: as we do with hear brusshes.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 182 Vnes decrottoyres, a rubbynge brusshe to make clene clothes with.

1567 A. Edwards Let. 16 June in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) ii. 385 Item 100, brusshes for garments, (none made of swines haire).

1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. E8 Drive them [sc. bees] gently into their hives with your brush.

1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. F4 The Brush is a handful of benets, hysop, or other herbs, or boughs bound taper-wise together.

1619 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. III. 478 Ane kame-caise, with ane brusch, with certane other necessaris.

1758 S. Johnson Idler 13 May 41 If a coat be spotted, a Lady has a brush.

1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xvii. 275 You want a hard brush to brush sunlight off a wall.

b. One of a pair of thin sticks set with long wire bristles with which to make a soft hissing sound on drums, cymbals, etc.; in full wire brush.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > drum > [noun] > drumstick

sticka1398

tabor-stick1486

drumstick1589

tapskin1605

drum stave1832

potato masher1835

baguette1876

wire brush1927

brush1955

1927 [see brush-work n. at Compounds 3].

1955 in M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xxiii. 288 Snare drum, sticks, brushes, [etc.].

1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 11 Brushes, wire brushes used to play the drums.

a. An instrument consisting of a bunch of hairs attached to a straight handle, for applying moisture to a surface, moist colours in painting, colouring, and similar purposes.These also vary greatly in size, from a small brush composed of a few fine elastic hairs of the sable, etc. fixed in a fine quill, to the large and coarse brushes of the house painter or plasterer (some of which have the hairs in distinct bunches).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush

brush1483

painter's brush1685

brush-pencil1702

painting brush1737

paintbrush?1762

1483 Cath. Angl. 46 A Brusch for paynterys, celeps.

1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 13 Brishes, of three sorts, viz. A Stock Brish, a Round Brish, and a Pencil. With these Brishes, they wet old Walls before they mend them.

1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 63 Take a fine Hogs-Hair-Brush; with this, job and beat over your Work gently, that the Gold may be pressed in close.

1792 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 328 Rub it over all the joints..with a painter's brush.

1804 Huddesford Wiccam. Chaplet 136 No painter that's living can handle a brush!

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 295 Brushes of brown sable are generally made by the insertion of the hair into quills; hence the size of the brush is recognised by the various names of the birds which supply the quills employed—as eagle, swan (of various sizes), goose, duck, and crow.

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 295 The smaller kinds of brushes are still sometimes termed ‘pencils’.

b. The painter's art or professional skill. brother of the brush: artist.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > painter

paintera1325

painter-stainer1502

depaintera1522

picturer1581

pencil-man1589

brother of the brush1687

brushman1785

knight of the brush1885

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun]

pencilc1385

paintinga1387

painturea1398

imagery1531

depaint1594

limning1606

brush1789

1687 T. Cartwright in J. R. Bloxham Magdalen Coll. & James II (1886) (modernized text) 143 Pray make use of my Brother of the Brush.

1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxiii. 171 The honourable devices which the Pentagraphic Brethren of the brush have shewn in taking copies.

1789 J. Wolcot Subj. for Painters in Wks. (1812) II. 136 The world ne'er said nor thought it of thy Brush.

1833 Byron's Wks. (1846) 585/1 A young American brother of the brush.

1836 W. M. Praed Sketch Young Lady in Poems If I to-morrow Could manage just for half-an-hour Sir Joshua's brush to borrow.

1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. There is another picture from the same brush.

3. Any brush-like bunch or tuft.

a. generally.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > tuft > like a brush or bush

bush1530

brush1581

1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 258 b Thys vayne~glorious proud pecocke is bedeckt with..glittering plumes, wrapt up together in a great brush.

1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 473 Equisetum arvense..the barren stem terminates in an abrupt brush of branches.

b. The bushy tail, or bushy part of the tail, of an animal; spec. that of the fox.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > rump and tail > [noun] > tail > bushy

brush1675

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Vulpes > vulpes vulpes (fox) > miscellaneous parts of > tail and parts of

bush1575

brush1675

chape1677

holy-water sprinkle1706

1675 [see Compounds 1].

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush..a Fox's Tail.

1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 145 His Brush he drags, And sweeps the Mire impure.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 328 His [sc. the fox's] tail is called his brush or drag.

1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 317 The squirrel, flippant..whisks his brush.

1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. cxxxix. 114 If the landed interest took the same courses in fox-hunting, it would be easy to foretell how many brushes they would bring home.

1883 J. Mackenzie Day-dawn in Dark Places 162 I tied the brush of the tail [of the gemsbuck] to Blue~buck's saddle.

4. Entomology. A brush-like organ on the legs of bees and other insects.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > parts of insects > [noun] > leg(s) > brush-like organ on

pecten1816

brush1828

1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 201 Tarsi short, with no brush beneath.

1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. 208 The legs of the Bee..have the first joint of the tarsus dilated..Its inner surface is provided with several rows of stiff hairs placed transversely, which gives to this part the name of the ‘brush’.

5. metallic brush: ‘a bundle of fine wires fixed in an insulating handle. Used for faradisation of less sensitive parts in anæsthetic conditions’ ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon); also a wire hair-brush.

a. A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > point of discharge > discontinuous discharge

electric spark1745

spark1749

electric(al) spark1771

brush1789

brush discharge1849

jump spark1908

1789 Nicholson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 79 275 When the intensity was greatest, brushes, of a different kind from the former, appeared.

1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 390 Somewhat like a little brush deflagration.

1846 W. R. Grove On Correlation Physical Forces 24 The electric spark, the brush, and similar phenomena.

c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 174/2 When any pointed object is presented to an electrised surface, the spark..becomes converted into a brush-like form; hence the term ‘electric brush’.

b. A piece of metal terminating in metallic wires, or strips of flexible metal, used for securing good metallic connection between two portions of an electrical instrument.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > connection, contact > [noun] > contact device

faceplate1860

brush-form1872

contact piece1876

brush1883

contact brush1884

contact block1901

make-and-break1903

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > contact

brush1883

contact brush1884

slip ring1896

collector ring1909

1883 Knowledge 13 July 24/2 One of the brushes of the commutator presses the insulating piece.

7. Optics. Bright or dark figures accompanying certain phenomena observed in polarized light, which by their shaded and ill-defined edges combined with variations of breadth suggest the idea of brushes.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > polarization > [noun] > phenomena associated with

brush1817

vibration1869

undulose extinction1889

Airy spiral1895

1817–45 J. F. W. Herschel Light in Encycl. Metrop. 559.

1857 H. Lloyd Wave-theory Light 193 The dark brushes, which cross the entire system of rings.

1857 H. Lloyd Wave-theory Light 122 Haidinger brushes..two brushes, of a pale orange-yellow colour, the axis of which coincides always with the track of the plane of polarization.

1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 111 In certain adjustments of the polariscope..two dark brushes run across the rings.

II. from brush v.²

a. A brushing; an application of a brush.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun]

scouringa1398

scrub1621

scrubbing1749

brush1822

offscouring1896

scour1910

1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel III. xii. 331 He..gives his beaver a brush, and cocks it in the face of all creation.

1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. Give your hair a brush.

b. Short for brush-off n. at brush v.² 5b. So brusheroo [-eroo suffix] .

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > a denial or refusal > rebuff

rebuff1582

affrontment1611

backslap1828

marching orders1856

a slap in (or on) the face, in the eye, on the wrist1861

rebuffal1887

a smack in the face1895

brush1941

brush-off1941

a smack in the eye1941

1941 in Amer. Speech (1942) 17 12/1 That's why I'm getting the brusheroo.

1947 B. Schulberg Harder they Fall i. 27 The ones who had already made up their minds almost always got the brush.

1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) ii. 25 So far I had found no chance to give Goodlee the brush.

1962 ‘E. Lacy’ Freeloaders viii. 175 I told Daniele what a crawling punk her boyfriend was, and she gave him the brush.

9. A graze, esp. on a horse's leg. (cf. brush v.² 6.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > disorders of legs > other disorders of leg

attaint?1523

brush1710

core1710

sickle-hough1799

grogginess1818

weed1841

thorough-shot1891

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [noun] > striking one leg against other > part injured by or injury

speedy cut1692

brush1710

1710 London Gaz. No. 4649/4 A Grey Gelding..having..a Brush in the right Hip.

Compounds

C1. Simple attributive. Brush-like.

ΚΠ

1675 London Gaz. No. 1044/4 A dark brown Nag..a brush tail, if not cut since stolen.

1703 London Gaz. No. 3895/4 Lost..a large liver-colour'd and white Spaniel, with a brush Tail.

1711 London Gaz. No. 4900/4 A whisk Tail and brush Mane.

C2. General relations.

a. Attributive.

brush-drop n.

ΚΠ

1878 J. A. Symonds Sonnets M. Angelo v A rich Embroidery Bedews my face from brush-drops thick and thin.

brush-play n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork

brush-work1868

brush-play1884

brush-power1885

brushing1896

1884 St. James's Gaz. 24 Jan. 6/2 An appearance of fusion obtained by a delicate dexterity of brush-play [in painting].

brush-power n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork

brush-work1868

brush-play1884

brush-power1885

brushing1896

1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Mar. 4/2 His brush-power was not more remarkable than his vision.

brush-stroke n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > work of art > detail of

toucha1616

brush-stroke1898

1898 Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 3/1 [Gainsborough's] brush-strokes are scarcely due to separate acts of volition.

1963 Times 17 Jan. 4/4 The canvas becomes a web of shimmering, delicate brushstrokes.

b. Objective.

brush-maker n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun]

mop-maker1646

brush-maker1709

brush-manufacturer1812

broom-maker1817

broom-squire1825

1709 London Gaz. No. 4538/4 Joseph Wheeler, Brushmaker by Trade.

brush-manufacturer n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun]

mop-maker1646

brush-maker1709

brush-manufacturer1812

broom-maker1817

broom-squire1825

1812 Examiner 12 Oct. 650/2 W. Jones..brush manufacturer.

c. Similative and parasynthetic.

brush-form adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > connection, contact > [noun] > contact device

faceplate1860

brush-form1872

contact piece1876

brush1883

contact brush1884

contact block1901

make-and-break1903

1872 H. Watts Dict. Chem. II. 402 Electric discharge, especially in the brush-form, frequently takes place in curves.

brush-like adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > unevenness > [adjective] > rough > rough and hairy (of things)

shaggy?1611

shagged-ragged1612

squalid1628

brushy1682

buzzy1836

brush-like1859

brushy-looking1882

whiskery1927

1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 478/2 This end of the hair is..more or less ragged and brush-like.

brush-shaped adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [adjective] > others

lachrymal1607

tauriform1721

diminished1726

tailed1767

acinose1796

aciniform1798

acinous1809

slab-sided1817

lip-like1836

mound-like1843

high-centred1847

square-toed1851

brush-shaped1880

mushroom1884

bolster-shaped1900

arrowhead1934

narrow-gutted1952

panhandled1960

1880 A. Gray Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) 400 Brush-shaped..made up of numerous spreading hairs, etc. in a tuft, as the stigmas of Grasses.

brush-tailed adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > rump and tail > [adjective] > relating to the tail > having a tail > having a bushy tail

besom-tailed1695

brushing1734

brush-tailed1853

bushy-tailed1868

bush-tailed1872

1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. vi. 141 Four or five brace of tall brush-tailed greyhounds.

C3. Special combinations.

brush borer n. = brush driller n.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process

brush drawer1900

brush borer1924

brush driller1924

1924 Census 1921: Classif. Industries §688 Brush Borer.

brush-burn n. an inflammation or sore caused by violent friction.

brush-colour n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > painting or coating materials > [noun] > paint > coat applied with a brush

brush-colour1845

1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. 130 Floor-cloth manufacture... A second coating of paint is laid on..wholly with a brush... Hence it is called the ‘brush-colour’, to distinguish it from the first or ‘trowel-colour’.

brush discharge n. = 6a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > point of discharge > discontinuous discharge

electric spark1745

spark1749

electric(al) spark1771

brush1789

brush discharge1849

jump spark1908

1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 42 The difference between the brush discharge and the spark is, that in the former discharge begins at the root [etc.].

1923 Pop. Wireless 13 Oct. 11 Brush discharge, a discharge of high-tension electricity, which takes the form of a luminous glow.

brush drawer n. an operative who puts in the bristles in ‘drawn brushes’.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process

brush drawer1900

brush borer1924

brush driller1924

1900 Daily News 6 Nov. 9/1 Brush drawer.

brush driller n. an operative who drills the holes in the stocks of brushes and brooms.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process

brush drawer1900

brush borer1924

brush driller1924

1924 Census 1921: Classif. Industries §688 Brush..Driller.

brush-gold n. Painting gold pigment for applying with a brush.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > colouring matter > [noun] > pigments

yelloweOE

motey1353

arsenica1393

orpimentc1395

auripigmenta1398

ochre1440

pink1464

massicot1472

yellow ochre1482

orpine1548

painter's gold1591

spruce1668

giallolino1728

king's yellow1738

Naples yellow1738

stil de grain1769

yellow earth1794

queen's yellow1806

chromate1819

chrome yellow1819

Oxford ochre1827

Indian yellow1831

Italian pink1835

Montpellier yellow1835

Turner1835

quercitron lake1837

jaune brillant1851

zinc chromate1851

zinc sulphide1851

brush-gold1861

zooxanthin1868

Oxford chrome1875

aureolin1879

cadmium yellow1879

Cassel yellow1882

Neapolitan yellow1891

zinc chrome1892

Mars1899

jaune jonquille1910

1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth I. 13 Margaret Van Eyck gave him a little brush-gold, and some vermilion.

brush-grain n. a grain produced in painting woodwork by drawing the brush over a wet coat of paint so that the under-coat is seen through the brush-marks.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > grain produced in painting woodwork

graining1834

brush-grain1901

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > [noun] > engraving tools > specific effect

brush-grain1901

1901 Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 310/1 In the painting of wood~work, when the second coat, say of vermilion, is made to show through the third, say of brown, by passing the brush over it while the last coat is still wet, the result is spoken of as ‘brush-grain’.

1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 21 Brush grain, a fine grain produced by the action of abrasive brushes.

brush-grass n. Andropogon Gryllus.

ΚΠ

1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) i. 30 It..may be called in English, Brush-grasse.

brush-hat n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > other

cap (also hat) of maintenancec1475

hat1483

wishing-hat1600

cockle hat1603

porringer1623

poke1632

custard-cap1649

bonnet1675

muff-box1678

Caroline1687

Quaker1778

meat safe1782

balloon hat1784

gypsy hat1785

cabriolet1797

gypsy bonnet1803

Gypsy1806

Wellington hat1809

fan-tail-hat1810

umbrella hat1817

radical1828

caubeen1831

topi1835

montera1838

Petersham1845

squash hat1860

Moab1864

kiddy1865

flap-hat1866

Dolly Varden1872

brush-hata1877

potae1881

Pope's-hat1886

plateau1890

kelly1915

push-back1920

kiss-me-quick hat1963

pakul1982

tinfoil hat1982

a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. Brush-hat, one in which the surface is continually brushed by a hand~brush, during the process of sizing.

brush-holder n. (see quot. 1904).

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > motor > [noun] > other parts of

gear1814

controller1836

phonic wheel1878

reverser1879

rotor1892

stator1892

brush-holder1894

interpole1907

phonic motor1924

1894 W. P. Maycock Electr. Lighting (ed. 2) i. vi. §114. 179 Construction of Brush-holders.

1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 72/1 Brush Holder, the support or frame carrying the copper (or carbon) strips by which the current enters or leaves a motor or dynamo.

brush-iron-ore n. an iron ore found in the Forest of Dean (see quots.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others

bloodstone1504

haematite1543

yellow share1590

keel1596

brush-ore1678

mush1686

brush-iron-ore1695

iron glance1792

specular iron (also iron ore)1796

steel-ore1796

oligistc1803

black band1811

old man1811

spathose iron-ore1823

pitticite1826

siderose1834

blink klip1835

pharmacosiderite1835

sphaerosiderite1837

fossil ore1846

jacutinga1846

vignite1846

siderite1848

junckerite1865

needle iron-ore1867

xanthosiderite1868

specularite1892

pitch ore1896

minette1902

taconite1905

1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 178 Minera ferri Stalactica..called Brush-Iron-Ore.

brush-ore n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others

bloodstone1504

haematite1543

yellow share1590

keel1596

brush-ore1678

mush1686

brush-iron-ore1695

iron glance1792

specular iron (also iron ore)1796

steel-ore1796

oligistc1803

black band1811

old man1811

spathose iron-ore1823

pitticite1826

siderose1834

blink klip1835

pharmacosiderite1835

sphaerosiderite1837

fossil ore1846

jacutinga1846

vignite1846

siderite1848

junckerite1865

needle iron-ore1867

xanthosiderite1868

specularite1892

pitch ore1896

minette1902

taconite1905

1678 Philos. Trans. 1677 (Royal Soc.) 12 932 The Iron-Ore..is found in great abundance..The best, which they call their Brush-Ore, is of a Blewish colour.

1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 33 A curious stalactite, rich in iron, and termed brush ore, from its being found hanging from the tops of caverns in striæ resembling a brush.

brush hand n. a house-painter.

ΚΠ

1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 36 I did a deal of house-painting at one time; I was a pretty smart brush hand.

brush-pencil n. an artist's colour brush.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush

brush1483

painter's brush1685

brush-pencil1702

painting brush1737

paintbrush?1762

1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 41 With a Brush-Pencil, Marble the thing you would Varnish.

brush-tail porcupine n. (also brush-tailed porcupine) (see quot. 1885).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Hystricidae (porcupine)

ilc897

urchinc1400

porcupine?a1425

brush-tail porcupine1885

thorn-swine1889

porky1899

1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 518/2 The second genus of Old-World porcupines is Atherura, the Brush-tailed Porcupines,..with long tails tipped with bundles of peculiar flattened spines.

1953 G. Durrell Overloaded Ark iv. 84 A Brush-tailed Porcupine..about the size of a cat... He was mostly black in colour.

1962 Times 20 Dec. 9/7 The Borneo Brushtail Porcupine.

brush-tea n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > drink > tea manufacture > [noun] > types of dry tea > other types

bing1702

bohea1702

brush-tea1813

Ceylon tea1814

padre1836

oolong1845

Formosa tea1889

1813 W. Milburn Oriental Commerce II. 525 Brush Tea—so called from the leaves being twisted into small cords like pack-thread, about 1 ½ to 2 inches long.

brush-tongued adj. having a tongue tipped with a brush-like cluster of filaments.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having tongue tipped with filaments

brush-tongued1880

1880 St. James's Budget 17 Sept. 12/2 Regions where humming-birds and brush-tongued lories abound.

brush-varnish n. (see quot.).

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > varnish

mastic varnish1510

white varnish1560

varnish1633

brush-varnish1875

1875 T. Seaton Man. Fret Cutting 31 Should you wish to varnish the work that has been fret cut or carved, you must do it with brush-varnish, made with spirits of wine..laid on with a camel-hair brush.

brushware n. goods consisting of all kinds of brushes.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > goods consisting of brushes

brushware1923

1923 Glasgow Herald 9 July 9 Brushware and pottery.

1960 Times 13 Jan. 17/4 Manufacture of household and toilet brushware is generally highly mechanized.

brush-wheel n. (a) a kind of friction-wheel which turns another similar wheel by means of bristles, cloth, leather, etc., fixed on their circumferences; (b) a circular revolving brush used for polishing, etc.

ΚΠ

1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 548 Wheels..made to turn each other by means of bristles fixed in their circumference; these are called brush wheels.

brush-work n. (a) painting, as distinguished from drawing; spec. the characteristic method (of a painter) of laying on the colours; (b) the use of the wire brush on percussion instruments.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork

brush-work1868

brush-play1884

brush-power1885

brushing1896

society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > beating drum > [noun] > stroke on drum > types of stroke

flam1796

brush-work1868

drag1927

rimshot1934

1868 Illustr. London News 11 Apr. There is no obtrusively pretentious brushwork nor garish colouring.

1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 218/2 Works..wanting in the trenchant brush~work..of subsequent productions.

1893 Daily News 8 Apr. 3/6 The brush work of this incomparable painter.

1927 Melody Maker Aug. 807/3 In this article I have discussed brush-work in conjunction with the side drum stick.

1935 Discovery Sept. 261/1 Flaws in the brushwork of the eyelids.

Draft additions 1993

In colloquial phrase as daft (mad, etc.) as a brush, quite daft or mad; crazy.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad

maddish1573

skyred1581

cracked1610

conundrumed1629

touchy-headed1666

touched1672

half-witted1712

maddy1719

Fifish1821

cracky1850

not all there1864

mattoid1891

tetched1930

as daft (mad, etc.) as a brush1932

1932 H. Williamson Labouring Life i. 20 Mazed as a brish (brush)—Said of the young literary gent. nicknamed The Beard.

1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry xiv. 129 ‘As daft as a brush’ (which flops, unable to stand upright).

1980 J. O'Faolain No Country for Young Men vi. 136 She's as mad as a brush. Thinks she's privy to secrets of national importance.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

brushn.³

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/

Forms: In Middle English broush, Scottish brwhs, 1500s brous, Middle English–1500s brusche.

Etymology: ? < brush v.¹

a. A forcible rush, a hostile collision or encounter; in later use, chiefly a short but smart encounter.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun]

fightc893

coursec1325

stourc1325

acounterc1330

meetingc1330

setc1330

showera1375

brusha1400

semblya1400

hosting1422

poynyec1425

conflictc1440

militancea1460

grate1460

rencounter1471

chaplea1500

flitea1513

concourse?1520

concursion1533

rescounter1543

spurnc1560

rencontrea1572

discourse1573

action1579

combat1582

opposition1598

do1915

society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of > a hostile encounter

encounter1297

counterc1330

brusha1400

recountering1410

recountera1470

encountering1482

re-encounter1525

re-encountry1569

passage1608

congression?1611

confronta1626

traverse1640

clash1646

congress1646

conjunction1648

head-to-head1899

go-around1912

mano a mano1950

face-off1956

bitchfest1985

a1400 Alexander 783 With slik a brout & a brusche [Dubl. MS. broush] þe bataill a-sembild.

c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xvi. 120 Than thai layid on dwyhs for dwyhs [= dush], Mony a rap and mony a brwhs.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 51 The lansis and grit speiris with [thair] force, Maid sic ane brusche vpone the bardit horss.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 186 The feildis baith togidder thair did june, With sic ane brous quhill mony speris brak.

a1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xx. 31 His courage was flush, he'd venture a brush.

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. iii. 34 Tempt not yet the brushes of the warre.

1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 54 Let us go and have t' other Brush with them.

1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. iv. 116 I became a scientific pugilist, and now and then took a brush with an oldster.

1860 C. Kingsley Misc. (ed. 2) I. 18 A smart brush with the Spaniards.

b. Hence at a brush, at the first brush, †to stand brush; at or after the first brush: at or after the first encounter or meeting.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > shortness in time [phrase] > instantaneously

as thou turnest thine handc1225

at a brusha1400

at one (also a) bruntc1450

with a whisk1487

with a whip Sir John1550

in the turn (also turning) of a hand1564

with or at a wink1585

at a blowa1616

in a wink1693

at a stroke1709

in or wi' a whid1719

in the trip of a minute1728

with a thrash1870

the twinkling of a bedpost1871

in a whisk1900

in jig-time1916

the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (intransitive)] > resist > resist resolutely

i-standOE

atstand?c1225

to hold out rubbers1573

to stand out1574

to hold out1585

stay1593

to stand one's ground1600

to stick out1677

to stand brush1794

the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > at first, originally, or primitively

principally1389

forthmostc1450

primarily1601

primordially1603

primitively1607

originarily1610

fontallya1617

originallya1620

primevallya1711

at or after the first brush1815

archetypally1854

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > meeting or encounter > [noun] > specifically of persons > first

at the first brush1815

a1400 Alexander (Dublin) 2133 Þe folke of þe cite..barred bremely at a brush þe foure brod ȝates.

1756 R. Symmer in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. ii. 460 IV. 378 The French will not carry the place at a brush.

1794 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana (1795) 63 Love will stand brush, against all wind and weather.

1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. xiii. 257 So you intend to give up this poor young fellow at the first brush?

1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. ii. 265 The people were..civil to you if you were civil to them, after the first brush.

c. A rapid run or race; a contest in speed. dialect and U.S.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun]

course1490

race1513

coursing1569

brush1841

1841 Spirit of Times 16 Oct. 390/3 The third mile was a ‘brush’ throughout.

1861 A. Trollope Framley Parsonage I. xiv. 274 Mark..would enjoy a brush across the country quite as well as he himself.

1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. ix. 105 He may have a couple of brushes of a quarter of a mile each.

1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden in Maine iii. 20 He..'llowed his hoss ud beat mine 'n a half mile brush.

1906 N.Y. Evening Post 16 June Apart from the annual regatta, there are endless minor ‘brushes’ for the ‘fresh-water sailormen’.

2. figurative. Cf. ‘rub’.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [noun]

sorrowOE

ail?c1225

scorpion?c1225

dolec1290

angera1325

anguishc1330

cupa1340

aggrievancea1400

discomfortc1405

afflictionc1429

sytec1440

pressurea1500

constraint1509

tenterhook1532

grief1535

annoying1566

troubler1567

griper1573

vexation1588

infliction1590

trouble1591

temptationc1595

load1600

torment1600

wringer1602

sorance1609

inflicting1611

brusha1616

freighta1631

woe-heart1637

ordeala1658

cut-up1782

unpleasure1792

iron maiden1870

mental cruelty1899

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) v. v. 7 Salsbury..who in rage forgets Aged contusions, and all brush of Time.

1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine 347 Though an humble man may upon the very score of his humility and meekness, receive a brush in the world.

1800 Duke of Wellington Let. 24 May in Dispatches (1837) I. 121 I have given them a brush through Colonel Pater, and have informed him that the system has not been hitherto approved.

3. ? A slight attack of illness. (Cf. brash n.¹)

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of > slight attack

spicea1479

touch1600

smatch1647

brush1733

waff1808

whiff1837

1733 Swift's Corr. II. 717 I [Dr. Sheridan] hope nothing ails her but a brush.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† brushn.⁴

Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: bruke n.

Etymology: Apparently a variant of bruke n., although the form is difficult to explain.

Obsolete.

= bruke n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Phytophaga or Chrysomeloidea > family Bruchiidae or Lariidae > member of genus Bruchus

brusha1382

bruchian1841

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxiii. 4 Gederede togidere shul be ȝoure spoiles, as is gedered brush [a1425 bruke].

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

brushn.⁵

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/, Australian English /brʌʃ/, New Zealand English

/brʌʃ/

Etymology: Of uncertain origin.

Australian and New Zealand slang.

A girl, a young woman; frequently derogatory. Also collective.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]

daughterOE

maidenOE

young womanOE

mayc1175

burdc1225

maidc1275

wenchc1290

file1303

virginc1330

girla1375

damselc1380

young ladya1393

jilla1425

juvenclec1430

young person1438

domicellea1464

quean1488

trull1525

pulleta1533

Tib1533

kittyc1560

dell1567

gillian1573

nymph1584

winklota1586

frotion1587

yuffrouw1589

pigeon1592

tit1599

nannicock1600

muggle1608

gixy1611

infanta1611

dilla1627

tittiea1628

whimsy1631

ladykin1632

stammel1639

moggie1648

zitellaa1660

baggagea1668

miss1668

baby1684

burdie1718

demoiselle1720

queanie?1800

intombi1809

muchacha1811

jilt1816

titter1819

ragazza1827

gouge1828

craft1829

meisie1838

sheila1839

sixteenc1840

chica1843

femme1846

muffin1854

gel1857

quail1859

kitten1870

bud1880

fräulein1883

sub-debutante1887

sweet-and-twenty1887

flapper1888

jelly1889

queen1894

chick1899

pusher1902

bit of fluff1903

chicklet1905

twist and twirl1905

twist1906

head1913

sub-deb1916

tabby1916

mouse1917

tittie1918

chickie1919

wren1920

bim1922

nifty1923

quiff1923

wimp1923

bride1924

job1927

junior miss1927

hag1932

tab1932

sort1933

palone1934

brush1941

knitting1943

teenybopper1966

weeny-bopper1972

Valley Girl1982

the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun] > girls collectively

girlism1788

girlery1806

girldom1848

giggle1940

brush1941

1941 in S. J. Baker Dict. Austral. Slang

1945 F. Sargeson When Wind Blows vii. 55 I don't go looking for trouble with brushes that are under age.

1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 200 What comes along but an Iti bint, a real grouse brush she was.

1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned iii. 26 To him all girls were collectively ‘the brush’.

1960 N. Hilliard Maori Girl iii. ix. 239 It's the good-looking brush that give a man all the trouble.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

brushv.¹

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/

Forms: Also Middle English brusche(n, Middle English brusshe.

Etymology: Perhaps identical with French brosser intransitive ‘to dash through dense underwood’, said of a stag or a hunter, which Littré separates < brosser transitive ‘to brush’, and refers immediately to brosse ‘brushwood’. But it is possible that the English word is onomatopoeic, or that onomatopoeia has affected its use: compare rush and br- words like brast (burst), break , bruise . In modern use, also affected by brush v.², especially in sense 4.

†1. intransitive. To rush with force or speed, usually into collision. Obsolete except as influenced by brush v.²: see quot. 1863 at sense 4a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and violently

driveeOE

fallOE

reseOE

routOE

rashOE

swip?c1225

weothec1275

startlec1300

lushc1330

swapc1386

brusha1400

spurna1400

buschc1400

frushc1400

rushc1405

rushle1553

rouse1582

hurl1609

powder1632

slash1689

stave1819

tilt1831

bulge1834

smash1835

storm1837

stream1847

ripsnort1932

slam1973

a1400 Alexander 963 And he halis furth on hede..Brusches doune by þe berne & bitterly wepis.

?a1400 Morte Arth. 3681 Than brothely they bekyre with boustouse tacle, Bruschese boldlye one burde.

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. xiv. 192 Furth bruschit the sawle with gret stremys of blude.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1192 Bothe batels on bent brusshet to-gedur.

c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10969 Pantasilia..brusshet into batell.

a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) i. iii. 78 For feare to brush at the iniquity of men, betray ye the cause of the gods?

a1650 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 388 His eares brushed out of blood.

†a. transitive. To force, or drive with a rush. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > with a rush

brushc1425

c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xiii. 93 (Jam.) Wpe he stwrly bruschyd the dure, And laid it flatlyngis in the flure.

a1460 Play Sacrament 649 Brushe them hens bothe & that anon.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 28 Blud fra byrneis was bruschyt on the greyn.

b. To force on (figurative); to drive hard. U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > motivation > motivate [verb (transitive)] > incite or instigate > bring about by incitement

stirc897

forthclepe?c1000

raisec1175

entice1297

rearc1325

excitea1340

arta1450

provocate?a1475

suscitate1528

to stir upc1530

provoke1535

store1552

concitea1555

upsteer1558

spirit1598

solicit1602

foment1606

fana1616

proritate1620

incite1627

ferment1660

spirita1680

brush1755

whip1805

to put (also set) (the) spurs to1819

fillipa1822

instigate1852

spark-plug1945

whomp1961

the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > impel or drive animates > rapidly

brush1827

romp1895

june1903

society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > drive a horse-drawn vehicle > drive hard

brush1868

1755 Connecticut Gaz. 29 Nov. (Schele de Vere) As tending to beget ill will, and brushing a disunion in the several governments in America.

1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie x I have at this moment a dog brushing a deer.

1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. v. 70 Eight or ten days prior to the race..brush him a half mile.

1904 N.Y. Times 28 Nov. 5 The drivers..spent a couple of hours before dusk brushing their fast steppers on the upper stretch.

3. intransitive. To burst away with a rush, move off abruptly, be gone, decamp, make off.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > go away suddenly or hastily

fleec825

runOE

swervea1225

biwevec1275

skip1338

streekc1380

warpa1400

yerna1400

smoltc1400

stepc1460

to flee (one's) touch?1515

skirr1548

rubc1550

to make awaya1566

lope1575

scuddle1577

scoura1592

to take the start1600

to walk off1604

to break awaya1616

to make off1652

to fly off1667

scuttle1681

whew1684

scamper1687

whistle off1689

brush1699

to buy a brush1699

to take (its, etc.) wing1704

decamp1751

to take (a) French leave1751

morris1765

to rush off1794

to hop the twig1797

to run along1803

scoot1805

to take off1815

speela1818

to cut (also make, take) one's lucky1821

to make (take) tracks (for)1824

absquatulize1829

mosey1829

absquatulate1830

put1834

streak1834

vamoose1834

to put out1835

cut1836

stump it1841

scratch1843

scarper1846

to vamoose the ranch1847

hook1851

shoo1851

slide1859

to cut and run1861

get1861

skedaddle1862

bolt1864

cheese it1866

to do a bunkc1870

to wake snakes1872

bunk1877

nit1882

to pull one's freight1884

fooster1892

to get the (also to) hell out (of)1892

smoke1893

mooch1899

to fly the coop1901

skyhoot1901

shemozzle1902

to light a shuck1905

to beat it1906

pooter1907

to take a run-out powder1909

blow1912

to buzz off1914

to hop it1914

skate1915

beetle1919

scram1928

amscray1931

boogie1940

skidoo1949

bug1950

do a flit1952

to do a scarper1958

to hit, split or take the breeze1959

to do a runner1980

to be (also get, go) ghost1986

1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush, to Fly or Run away.

1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 63 Off they brush'd, both Foot and Horse.

1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband ii. i. 33 I believe I had as good brush off.

1730 H. Fielding Author's Farce i. vi. 11 Come, Sir, will you please to brush?

1820 Ld. Byron tr. L. Pulci Morgante Maggiore lxv He brush'd apace On to the abbey.

1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. viii. 154 Enoch brushed out of the door.

1842 R. H. Barham Dead Drummer in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 208 And one Sergeant Matcham Had ‘brush'd with the dibs’.

a. [Blending this with brush v.²] intransitive. To move briskly by, through, or against anything, grazing it or sweeping it aside in passing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along

scum1513

shave1513

sweep1538

raze1555

grazea1616

frizzle1634

brush1647

brush1674

to brush (a thing) over1700

skim1796

skiff1807

scuff1818

skitter1885

swab1892

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (transitive)] > move past > closely > graze or sweep aside in passing

brush1674

1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 143 To brush through many atoms of room.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 536. ¶1 A pretty young Thing..brushing by me.

1713 J. Addison in Guardian 17 Sept. 2/1 The Servants..begin to brush very familiarly by me.

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 13 Often brushing through the dripping grass.

1822 T. Hood Two Peacocks of Bedfont ii, in London Mag. Oct. 304 They brush between The church-yard's humble walls.

1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola III. xi. 117 He had brushed against a man whose face he had not stayed to recognize.

1885 R. Browning Ferishtah's Fancies 9 Where dogs brush by thee and express contempt.

b. to brush round: to bestir oneself. U.S. colloquial.

ΚΠ

1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks x. 127 If the feller that only had one talent had brushed round, he could 'a' made a spec on it.

1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks xii. 156 You an' me has got to be brushin' round.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

brushv.²

Brit.

/brʌʃ/, U.S.

/brəʃ/

Forms: Also Middle English brusche, Middle English–1500s brusshe, brushe, 1600s brish.

Etymology: < brush n.²; or < French brosser, similarly formed < brosse.

a. transitive. To pass a brush briskly across (a surface), so as to sweep off dirt, dust, or light particles, or to smooth the surface; as to brush a coat, a hat, one's hair, a person (i.e. his clothes or hair).

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)]

swopec1000

sweepa1300

brusha1475

streak1492

soop?a1500

to brush upa1600

besom1791

broom1838

to brush down1839

a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 180 To brusche þem [sc. robes] clenly.

1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 253 To brush, and lay vp their apparell.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. ii. 38 A brushes his hat a mornings.

1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 67 in Sylva Brush and cleanse them..from the dust.

1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. ii, in Poems 76 He serv'd the Squire and brush'd the Coat he made.

1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 7 Molly..brush'd it with a broom.

1840 F. Marryat Olla Podrida II. xxi. 75 The children could not be brushed, for the brushes were in the carpet bag.

1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. The nurse brushes the children's hair. ‘They were washing and brushing themselves in the inn.’

†b. figurative. To thrash: esp. in to brush one's coat for him. Obsolete. (Cf. to dust a person's jacket at jacket n. Phrases 3.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (intransitive)] > specifically a person

to lay ona1225

to dust a person's jacket1630

to brush one's coat for him1665

to give (one) sock(s)1699

pepper1829

lam1875

beast1990

the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person

to-beatc893

threshOE

bustc1225

to lay on or upon?c1225

berrya1250

to-bunea1250

touchc1330

arrayc1380

byfrapc1380

boxc1390

swinga1400

forbeatc1420

peal?a1425

routa1425

noddlea1450

forslinger1481

wipe1523

trima1529

baste1533

waulk1533

slip1535

peppera1550

bethwack1555

kembc1566

to beat (a person) black and blue1568

beswinge1568

paik1568

trounce1568

canvass1573

swaddle?1577

bebaste1582

besoop1589

bumfeage1589

dry-beat1589

feague1589

lamback1589

clapperclaw1590

thrash1593

belam1595

lam1595

beswaddle1598

bumfeagle1598

belabour1600

tew1600

flesh-baste1611

dust1612

feeze1612

mill1612

verberate1614

bethumpa1616

rebuke1619

bemaul1620

tabor1624

maula1627

batterfang1630

dry-baste1630

lambaste1637

thunder-thump1637

cullis1639

dry-banga1640

nuddle1640

sauce1651

feak1652

cotton1654

fustigate1656

brush1665

squab1668

raddle1677

to tan (a person's) hide1679

slam1691

bebump1694

to give (a person) his load1694

fag1699

towel1705

to kick a person's butt1741

fum1790

devel1807

bray1808

to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813

mug1818

to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821

welt1823

hidea1825

slate1825

targe1825

wallop1825

pounce1827

to lay into1838

flake1841

muzzle1843

paste1846

looder1850

frail1851

snake1859

fettle1863

to do over1866

jacket1875

to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877

to take apart1880

splatter1881

to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884

to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886

to do up1887

to —— (the) hell out of1887

to beat — bells out of a person1890

soak1892

to punch out1893

stoush1893

to work over1903

to beat up1907

to punch up1907

cream1929

shellac1930

to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931

duff1943

clobber1944

to fill in1948

to bash up1954

to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976

to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983

beast1990

becurry-

fan-

1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 61 Colonel Balfour, and his English, having brushed the Spaniards, the States capitulated.

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 209 They had their Coats soundly brushed by them.

1783 Ainsworth's Thes. Linguæ Latinæ (new ed.) ii Converro, to beat one, to brush his coat for him.

c. with complement, as to brush (a thing) clean, etc., to brush down, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)]

swopec1000

sweepa1300

brusha1475

streak1492

soop?a1500

to brush upa1600

besom1791

broom1838

to brush down1839

1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby iv. 24 His hair..was brushed stiffly up from a low protruding forehead.

1858 G. Glenny Gardener's Every-day Bk. (new ed.) 279 Sweeping away all dead leaves, and frequently brushing down the shelves.

1879 R. Browning Ivan Ivanovitch in Idyls I. 70 His broad hands smoothed her head, as fain to brush it free From fancies.

d. absol. Also to brush away: see away adv. 6.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > brush or sweep [verb (intransitive)]

sweep1340

to brush up1811

to brush away1855

1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. iv. 43 She showed it by brushing away viciously at Margaret's hair.

1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. You brush too hard!

e. To go over with a brush-harrow.

ΚΠ

1859 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1857–8 3 490 The ground should be fresh plowed, harrowed and rolled, or brushed.

a. to brush up: to brighten up by brushing, to free from dust or cobwebs, to furbish up, rub up, renovate; also figurative to revive or refresh one's acquaintance with anything. (Pope associates this with using a brush in painting, but perhaps only by a wordplay.) Also absol. (rare) and intransitive.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)]

swopec1000

sweepa1300

brusha1475

streak1492

soop?a1500

to brush upa1600

besom1791

broom1838

to brush down1839

society > education > learning > [verb (transitive)] > relearn

to rub up1613

relearn1694

refresh1781

to brush up1788

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > brush or sweep [verb (intransitive)]

sweep1340

to brush up1811

to brush away1855

society > education > learning > [verb (intransitive)] > relearn

to brush up1818

a1600 A. Scott Eagle & Robin in Ever-green (1761) I. 233 Proud Pecocks..Bruscht up thair Pens that solemn Day.

1605 G. Chapman et al. Eastward Hoe iii. sig. D3 You should brushe vp my olde Mistresse.

1706 A. Pope Let. 10 Apr. in Wks. (1871–89) I. 28 You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbours.

1788 Ld. Sheffield in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1861) II. 220 Nickolls..was happy in brushing up his acquaintance with you.

1811 London Pract. Midwifery (ed. 3) vi. 140 The practitioner should always be cheerful... Whenever he perceives his patient looking at him, he should brush up, and appear as cheerful as he can.

1818 J. Keats Let. 27 Apr. (1958) I. 275 Don't you think I am brushing up in the letter way?

1832 H. Martineau For Each & All i. 5 She must brush up her French.

1835 C. Dickens Let. ?June (1965) I. 66 I felt rather tired this morning when I got up; but as I did not do so until past eleven, I soon brushed up again.

1840 Knickerbocker 16 162 I thought I must brush up for the occasion.

1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. x. 162 I brushed up my recollections of the map of England.

1903 Dial 1 Sept. (advt.) If you wish to brush up on your English, you will find nothing better.

1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 5 Oct. 8 The ex-governor must brush up a bit on his ecclesiastical studies.

b. intransitive. To make oneself more presentable or ready for action; to refresh one's memory. U.S.

ΚΠ

1844 W. T. Thompson Major Jones's Courtship (ed. 2) i. 12 When she come, I brushed up, and was termined to have a rite serious talk with her.

1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xvi. 265 We here overhauled our kit, brushed up a little, and put on our best gear for a visit.

c. Hence brush-up n. the action or process of ‘brushing up’.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > [noun] > making smooth and sleek

sleeking1578

slicking1600

brush-up1897

society > education > learning > [noun] > relearning

rub-up1846

relearning1859

brush-up1951

1897 E. Terry Let. 3 July in E. Terry & G. B. Shaw Corr. (1931) 224 She looked quite nice when she'd had a nice ‘wash and a brush up’.

1912 ‘R. Andom’ On Tour with Troddles (new ed.) ix. 62 What we really did want was a wash and a brush up, with a good substantial meal to follow.

1951 A. Christie They came to Baghdad xix. 192 I left her to have a wash and brush up.

1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 127 If your knowledge is hazy, rusty, in need of a brush-up.

3. to brush (a thing) over: to paint or wet its surface with a brush; to paint lightly; also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > coat or cover with a layer [verb (transitive)] > smear or spread with a substance > lightly

touch1569

to brush (a thing) over1628

the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along

scum1513

shave1513

sweep1538

raze1555

grazea1616

frizzle1634

brush1647

brush1674

to brush (a thing) over1700

skim1796

skiff1807

scuff1818

skitter1885

swab1892

1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xxi. sig. E3 Practise him a little in men, and brush him ore with good companie.

1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 12 They finish the Plastering..by..brishing it over with fair Water.

1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (ed. 2) App. p. lxii Brush them over with brandy.

1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. i. 5 It is just brushed over for the lights and shades.

a. To rub softly as with a brush in passing; to graze lightly or quickly, as in passing.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along

scum1513

shave1513

sweep1538

raze1555

grazea1616

frizzle1634

brush1647

brush1674

to brush (a thing) over1700

skim1796

skiff1807

scuff1818

skitter1885

swab1892

1647 H. More Cupid's Confl. xxiii. 171 My mightie wings high stretch'd..I brush the starres.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 321 And brush the liquid Seas with lab'ring Oars.

1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. ix. 569 It almost brush'd the helm.

1790 A. Wilson Poems 11 To spurn dull sleep, and brush the flow'ry dale.

1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas I. 31 Light with swift foot she brushed the doorstead.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 270 Light Zephyrus even-breathing Brushes a sleeping sea.

figurative.1807 Salmagundi 20 Mar. 115 [They] have been brushed rather rudely by the hand of time.

b. intransitive. To come lightly against with the impact of a brush.

ΚΠ

1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. lix. 178 He became so great that his fethers brushed against the Kings Crown.

†c. transitive. To draw or pass (anything) lightly like a brush over (something). Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along > move (something) lightly over or along

brush1690

1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian iv. i. 102 A Thousand Nights have brush'd their balmy wings Over these eyes.

a. To remove (dust, etc.) with a brush, to sweep (away). Also transferred and figurative. To sweep away as with a brush, to carry off lightly in passing. (Usually with adverbial or prepositional adjunct.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)] > remove (dirt) by brushing or sweeping

sweepa1382

soop?a1500

whisk1626

brush1645

the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > clear out or away > sweep away

forswift1513

sweep1560

brush1645

1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 From the Boughs brush off the evil dew.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 122 The Cows and Goats..That..brush the Dew.

1813 Ld. Byron Giaour (Orig. Draft) ii If..the transient breeze..brush one blossom from the trees.

1814 R. Southey Roderick xvi She brush'd away the dews.

1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful III. x. 182 Tom passed the back of his hand across his eyes to brush away a tear.

1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career ii. 41 Brushing tears from his eyes.

1884 Manch. Examiner 26 Nov. 5/1 It is surely high time to brush this nonsense away.

1886 Manch. Examiner 8 Jan. 6/1 Brushing the snow and slush into little mounds.

b. to brush off: figurative, to rebuff, dismiss (a person, etc.). So brush-off n. a rebuff, dismissal. Originally U.S.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > rebuff

rebut1488

reject1529

counterbuff1579

rebuffa1586

repel1593

slighta1616

to blow off1631

squab1812

respue1818

snout1916

stiff-arm1927

to knock back1930

to brush off1941

the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > a denial or refusal > rebuff

rebuff1582

affrontment1611

backslap1828

marching orders1856

a slap in (or on) the face, in the eye, on the wrist1861

rebuffal1887

a smack in the face1895

brush1941

brush-off1941

a smack in the eye1941

1941 J. R. Parker Attorneys at Law i. 10 I'd have given my eye teeth to hear Forbes getting the brush-off.

1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? vi. 132 Since Sammy was waiting for Julian the chances are he'd only brush me off.

1943 L. Browne See what I Mean? i. 8 No matter where I turned, I was given the brush-off.

1944 Amer. Speech 19 310/2 The organizer of a Brush-off-club ‘made up of mournful soldiers who were given the hemlock cup by femmes back home’.

1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 71 Casual kindness in a man she had found to be the preliminary to a brush-off.

1958 M. Dickens Man Overboard v. 68 The bleakly familiar: ‘The post has been filled’, or the more courteous brush-off: ‘We will keep your letter on record in case a suitable post arises’.

1969 Listener 31 July 131/2 The problem of the future of British sovereignty can no longer be brushed off with humorous references to accepting foreign referees' decisions in international football matches.

6. To injure or hurt by grazing; said esp. of a horse grazing his fetlock with the shoe or hoof of the fellow foot. Also absol.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (transitive)] > strike one leg against other

brush1691

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (intransitive)] > strike one leg against other

interfere1530

overreach1590

cut1660

hitch1686

click1713

brush1868

1691 London Gaz. No. 2661/4 A grey Gelding about 15 hands..his Knees brush'd.

1868 Bp. Fraser in Life (1887) 158 I hope he [a horse] does not ‘cut’ or ‘brush’ in his action.

1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 327/2 Such severe and..unnecessary pain, as the horse [inflicts] by hitting or brushing himself behind.

7. To trim (a hedge or tree, the sides of a ditch or path). local.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > hedging > make or repair hedge [verb (transitive)] > trim hedge

brush1513

brish1636

steep1741

beclip1785

switch1811

skirt1879

pare1884–5

1513 [implied in: Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/4) For toppyng of xij treys & broshyng. (at brushing n. 1)].

1809 Warehorne Highway-bk. 29 June (E.D.D.) For brushing the footpath, 1s. od.

1845 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 6 ii. 479 They [sc. hedges] are carefully brushed, or clipped, twice a year.

1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester 48 Brush, to trim a hedge.

8. To beat (a covert). Also int. in verbal noun.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (transitive)] > beat

beata1400

to put upa1475

tuft1590

tusk1592

fowl1611

flaxa1848

brush1876

1876 Coursing Cal. 223 Our long dragging beats taking us..round the far side by Fliskoe Forest, in proximity to which the ranges were brushed, but with no good results.

1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia 26 Brush, to beat a covert; ‘a day's brushing with the governor’.

9. Hunting. To take the ‘brush’ from (a killed fox) as a trophy of the chase.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > [verb (transitive)] > hunt fox > take brush from

brush1879

1879 Tinsley's Mag. 24 334 As they then rode in the master ‘brushed’ him [sc. a fox], while the hounds were baying.

1893 Field 11 Feb. 191/3 Some twenty minutes later he had the satisfaction of brushing his fox.

10. Painting. to brush (in): to put in with the brush, to paint in.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > paint [verb (transitive)]

meteOE

depaint?c1225

paintc1275

stain1519

to paint out1553

depeinct1579

limn1593

impaint1598

pencil1610

stroke1624

depencil1631

brush1897

1897 Daily News 16 Jan. 6/3 For flesh painting, the torso..is so firm, so luminous; the draperies, too, are decisively brushed in.

1901 Daily News 7 Mar. 6/6 These are vivid, quickly brushed impressions by an artist who has an eye for..Italian landscape.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹1330

n.²1377

n.³a1400

n.⁴a1382

n.⁵1941

v.¹a1400

v.²a1475

单词	brush
释义	brushn.¹ Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/ Forms: Middle English brusche, 1500s brushe, 1500s– brush. Etymology: Middle English brusche , < Old French brosse, broce, broche brushwood (whence modern French broussailles : see brushal n.). Diez cites Provençal brossa , Spanish broza , Italian brustia , brushwood. Du Cange has medieval Latin bruscia , brocia , brossia , brozia , brucia , all in same sense. Diez takes the late Latin type as brustia , and refers it to Old High German burst* , bursta bristle; compare Middle High German bürste brush. If his conjectures are correct, brosse ‘brush’ and brosse ‘brushwood’ were originally identical; but as their history in English shows no contact, it appears better here to treat them apart: see brush n.² 1. a. Loppings of trees or hedges; cut brushwood. Now in U.S. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > pruning or lopping > prunings or loppings shreddingc950 trouse978 stickc1175 rammelc1250 spray1297 brush1330 shriding1340 shridels1399 lopc1420 shraggingc1440 shroud1475 tops1485 polling1557 brutting1577 lopping1589 pruning1658 toppings1668 scorel1671 loppage1683 lop-wood1693 shrouding1725 cropping1768 1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (Rolls Ser.) 8338 Þey comaunded to al men lyk Wiþ brusch to come, & fylle þe dyk. c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 54 Brusche, bruscus. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 201/2 Brushe to make brushes on, brvyère. 1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 606 One sin helps to kindle another; the lesse the greater, as the brush the logges. 1830 in W. Cobbet Rur. Rides (1885) II. 298 [To] supply the farm with poles and brush, and with everything wanted in the way of fuel. 1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. iii. ii. 185 The two boys would be found serviceable, either in collecting the brush or in burning off the logs. 1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Brush, for brushwood, is an Americanism, and..comprises also branches of trees. 1880 M. A. Courtney W. Cornwall Words in M. A. Courtney & T. Q. Couch Gloss. Words Cornwall 7/1 Brush, dried furze used for fires. b. A faggot or bavin of such brushwood. Cf. brash n.² ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun] woodc888 trouse978 stickc1175 spray1297 spraya1300 firewood1377 lopc1420 billet1465 buchette1507 bag-wood1525 bavin1573 brushment1591 brushwood1616 burning-wood1642 firebote1661 chump1680 lop-wood1693 brush1699 burn-wood1701 lightwood1705 shravel1732 billet-wood1759 hedge-wood1785 pine knot1791 society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun] > a pile, stack, or bundle faggotc1312 kida1350 faggald1488 bavin1528 woodpile1552 fire pile1577 brush-faggot1606 stalder1611 figate1645 kid-stack1653 stack-wood1664 brush1699 bavin-band1725 pimpa1731 bavin-stack1759 bundle-wood1879 wood-heap1943 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush, a small Faggot, to light the other at Taverns. 1748 Defoe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 4) I. 138 Small light Bavins..are called in the Taverns a Brush. 2. The small growing trees or shrubs of a wood; a thicket of small trees or underwood. (Esp. in U.S., Canada, and Australia.) ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > wood or assemblage of trees or shrubs > [noun] > brushwood, scrub, or underwood ronea1300 underwooda1325 rammel1338 brushetc1380 scroga1400 bushailec1400 frithing1429 brushal1430 brushc1440 ronec1440 thevec1440 garsil1483 shroga1500 cablish1594 south-bois1598 undergrowth1600 frith1605 hand timber1664 subbois1664 urith1671 brushwood1732 bush-wood1771 underbrush1775 slop1784 woodiness1796 scrub1805 shag1836 chaparral1845 underbush1849 underscrub1870 sand-brush1871 buck-brush1874 bush1879 horizontal scrub1888 tangle-wood1894 shin-tangle1905 c1440 [see sense 1a]. 1530 [see sense 1a]. 1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. vi. f. 105 The inhabiters of the countrey were accustumed to creape amonges the brush like wilde bestes. 1613 J. Sylvester Elegie Sir W. Sidney in Lachrymae Lachrymarum (new ed.) sig. I2 Brush and Bryars (good for nought at all). 1702 Eng. Theophrastus 374 You shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and brushes. 1768 C. Beatty Jrnl. Two Months' Tour 35 Grown up..with small brush, or under-wood. 1789 J. Wolcot Sir J. Banks & Emp. of Morocco in Wks. Peter Pindar (1816) 479 Mindless of trees, and brushes, and the brambles. 1791 in Amer. Speech 15 161/2 To a white Oak & red Oak near a hollow in the Edge of Brush. 1801 Massachusetts Spy 23 Dec. 3/4 The imprudence of a person who set on fire a quantity of brush, &c. near Cambridge. 1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 58 Brush, and full grown trees. 1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales The timber standing at wide intervals, without any brush or undergrowth. 1820 J. Oxley Jrnls. Two Exped. New S. Wales These plains or brushes are swamps in wet weather. 1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 255 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV All trimming should be performed by striking..in the direction the brush leans. 1887 I. Randall Lady's Ranche Life Montana 8 The bright red of the brush by the river-side. †3. Stubble. Obsolete or dialect. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > stubble arrishOE stub1250 stubble1297 pease stubble?1523 pease-etch1573 gratten1577 stumps1585 brush1686 etch1727 pea stubble1743 pease-eddish1789 stubble1792 shacklea1800 1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 343 They sowe wheat again, upon the brush (as they call it) i.e. upon the peas stubble. 1790 W. Marshall Agric. Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Midland Counties II. 434 Brush, stubble; as a wheat brush. Compounds C1. General attributive. brush-faggot n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > wood as fuel > [noun] > a pile, stack, or bundle faggotc1312 kida1350 faggald1488 bavin1528 woodpile1552 fire pile1577 brush-faggot1606 stalder1611 figate1645 kid-stack1653 stack-wood1664 brush1699 bavin-band1725 pimpa1731 bavin-stack1759 bundle-wood1879 wood-heap1943 1606 G. Chapman Sir Gyles Goosecappe iii. sig. E She had as lieue be courted with a brush faggot as with a frenchman. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 230 The fire-wood was most of it..brush-faggots out of a wood, and but few of the small bush-faggots. brush-heap n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > bundle or pile of wood kida1350 wood-cast1483 woodpile1552 babbin1665 fascine1694 brush-heap1819 brush-pile1865 1819 W. Irving Hist. N. Y. (ed. 3) I. iv. xi. 246 He was a perfect brush-heap in a blaze. brush house n. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > house of specific material or construction thatch-house1521 slate house1554 thack housec1600 frame house1627 log-house1662 straw1665 thatch1693 tin-house1798 fog house1799 leaf house1811 rock house1818 black house1819 blockhouse1821 white house1824 slab-and-bark house1826 brown house1845 brush house1854 soddy1877 hurdle-housea1879 bottle house1913 stucco1922 prefab1942 Portal house1944 Airey1945 yali1962 1854 B. Young in Jrnl. Discourses I. 166 Families went there and lived in wagons and brush houses. brush-pile n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > bundle or pile of wood kida1350 wood-cast1483 woodpile1552 babbin1665 fascine1694 brush-heap1819 brush-pile1865 1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys 361 The very chickens run under the fences and the brushpile. brush stable n. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > stabling > stable horse-housec1175 stablec1250 guest-stable1471 livery stable1661 brush stable1835 livery1888 boarding-stable1903 run-in shed1946 stable block1977 1835 Southern Literary Messenger 1 581 The pony..moves homeward with accelerated velocity, leaping every obstacle in his way to his brush stable. brush tent n. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > tent > [noun] > other types of tent tenticle1548 pal1656 marquee1690 gourbi1738 marquise1749 yurt1780 bell-tent1785 kibitka1799 shuldari1808 fly-tent1816 Swiss cottage1820 skin house1826 big tent1843 ridge tent1846 brush tent1862 dog tent1862 shelter tent1862 wall-tent1862 wedge tent1862 pup tent1863 A tent1863 tupik1864 tentlet1879 choom1889 pyramid1889 tortoise tent1890 safari tent1926 tent-sack1940 tent-trailer1963 tepee1970 trailer tent1971 Whillans box1971 1862 Harper's Mag. June 16/1 In the yard..were several chapadens or brush-tents in which whisky, gin,..and other refreshments..were for sale. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xix. 310 John A. Lee..had his wife living there in a sort of brush tent. brush whisky n. U.S. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [noun] > illicit whisky poteen1809 mountain dew1816 poteen whiskey1816 white whisky1822 pine-top1858 white mule1880 wild-cat whisky1881 brush whisky1885 wild cat1887 white lightning1907 1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Great Smoky Mountains xv. 275 The constable's heart was warmed by the brush whiskey. 1913 M. W. Morley Carolina Mts. 66 That important beverage, variously known as..‘blockade’, ‘brush whiskey’, and..‘corn whiskey’. C2. brush-apple n. ‘the native Australian wood of Achras australis’ (Treas. Bot.). ΚΠ 1888 Proc. Linnean Soc. N.S.W. III. 485 ‘Black Apple’, ‘Brush Apple’. 1933 C. W. Peck Austral. Legends (ed. 2) 39 Here he found the Achras australe or Brush Apple. † brush-bill n. Obsolete a bill for cutting brushwood. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > bill hook wood-billc725 billc1000 falsartc1380 wood-hookc1440 falchion1483 forest-bill1488 bush-scythe1552 brush-bill1588 cutting-bill1601 bill-hook1611 hook-bill1613 bush-bill1631 hack1846 snagger1847 slasher1858 bush-hook1860 slash-hook1891 1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 65 Pikes, targets, faunchers, brushebilles, holbards. brush-bush n. a shrub ( Eucryphia pinnata) having pinnate leaves and single white flowers. brush-cherry n. ‘the native Australian wood of Trochocarpa laurina’ (Treas. Bot.). brush-fire n. originally U.S. a fire in brush; also transferred; attributive, (of a war) arising suddenly and limited in scale or area. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > bush or forest fire prairie fire1824 bush-fire1847 brush-fire1850 crown fire1893 red steer1936 society > armed hostility > war > types of war > [adjective] > sudden and limited brush-fire1955 1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah xix. 238 The spiral smoke..rose from the brushfire. 1947 Chicago Daily News 15 May 1/3 The family outcast is stirring up a brush fire of liberal resentment against the Truman administration. 1955 Times 14 May 7/5 He opposed any reduction in manpower because of the risk of ‘brush fire’ wars. brush-kangaroo n. a species of kangaroo inhabiting the Australian ‘brush’. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > kangaroo > unspecified and miscellaneous types of pademelon1802 brush-kangaroo1830 antelope kangaroo1846 euro1855 blue1968 1830 Proc. Royal Geog. Soc. 1 29 These dogs..are particularly useful in catching the bandicoots, the small brush kangaroo, and the opossum. brush-puller n. a machine for pulling up brushwood by the roots. brush-scythe n. a scythe or sickle on a shaft for cutting brushwood. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > sickle > types of staff-hook?1523 pease-hook1545 brush-scythe1573 grass hook1665 swipe1742 twibill1763 pea-hook1840 swap-hook1863 the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > types of brush-scythe1573 grass scythe1573 cradle-scythe1669 crather1688 bushwhacker1858 1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 15^v A brush sythe, & grasse syth. brush-turkey n. an Australian bird ( Talegalla lathami). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > [noun] > member of Megapodidae (mound-builder) > talegalla or brush-turkey Talegalla1840 brush-turkey1847 1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. I. §435 Termed..the Brush Turkey, on account of the wattles with which its neck is furnished. 1852 W. J. Broderip Leaves Note Bk. of Naturalist 139 The brush-turkey belongs to a family of birds..which never incubate, but..leave their eggs to the genial warmth of this half-natural, half artificial mother. brush-turnip n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > fodder > fodder for sheep turnip1548 wild turnip1597 broouage1610 French turnip1731–3 brush-turnip1799 break1805 old man saltbush1866 1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 110 To sow..brush turnips, which are not expected to produce any roots, but in the months of March and April afford an excellent food for ewes and lambs. brush wallaby n. Australian several species of the genus Wallabia, esp. W. rufogrisea, found esp. in coastal brushes. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Macropodidae > wallaby > genus Wallabia (swamp wallaby) brush wallaby1896 swamp wallaby1896 1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 221 The Walabee of New South Wales somewhat resembles the Brush Kangaroo of Van Diemen's Land.] 1896 F. G. Aflalo Sketches Nat. Hist. Austral. ii. 40 Into the specific descriptions of the rock, swamp, brush, scrub and other wallabies I shall not enter. 1926 A. S. Le Souef et al. Wild Animals Australasia 189 The red-necked wallaby commonly known as the scrub and in places as the brush wallaby, is found in the drier forest country of Eastern Australia. 1966 V. Serventy Continent in Danger iii. 66 The fleetness of foot of these brush wallabies led them to be hunted for sport. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022). brushn.² Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/ Forms: Middle English–1500s brusshe, Middle English brusch(e, 1600s brish, 1500s– brush. Etymology: Middle English brusshe , < Old French brosse, broisse, identified by most French etymologists with brosse brushwood (see brush n.¹), the sense being supposed to be derived through that of ‘bunch of broom or other shrub used to sweep away dust’: compare broom n. But the history of the French words has not been satisfactorily made out: compare Middle High German bürste feminine ‘brush’, < borste bristle, and see Diez, Littré, Scheler, Brachet. I. An instrument with tufts of hair affixed, used for brushing or sweeping, and related senses. 1. a. A utensil consisting of a piece of wood or other suitable material, set with small tufts or bunches of bristles, hair, or the like, for sweeping or scrubbing dust and dirt from a surface; and generally any utensil for brushing or sweeping.Brushes are of many shapes and of various materials according to use; instead of bristles there may be slender wires, vegetable fibres, feathers, etc. They are named according to their use, as clothes-brush, hat-brush, shoe-brush, blacking-brush, hair-brush, nail-brush, tooth-brush, etc. A hard brush has stiff bristles; a soft brush fine and flexible bristles. The chimney-sweep's brush and dust brush pass into a besom. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > [noun] > brush or broom besomc1000 bast broom1357 brush1377 broom14.. sweepc1475 duster1575 bristle brush1601 broom-besom1693 flag-broom1697 stock-brush1700 whisk1745 birch-broom1747 hair-broom1753 spry1796 corn-broomc1810 pope's head1824 whisker1825 sweeping-brusha1828 swish1844 spoke-brush1851 whisk broom1857 Turk's head1859 wisp1875 tube-brush1877 bass-broom?1881 crumb-brush1884 dusting-brush1907 palmetto brush1913 suede brush1915 swale1949 the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > brush brush1377 hairbrush1599 toilet brush1833 military hairbrush1894 military brush1921 1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiv. 460 Whi he ne hadde wasshen it [a coat] or wyped it with a brusshe. c1485 Inventory in J. T. Fowler Acts Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1875) 369 Unum brusshe, ijd. 1519 W. Horman Vulgaria x. f. 115 Olde men brusshed theyr dustye clothes with cowe tayles: as we do with hear brusshes. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 182 Vnes decrottoyres, a rubbynge brusshe to make clene clothes with. 1567 A. Edwards Let. 16 June in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) ii. 385 Item 100, brusshes for garments, (none made of swines haire). 1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. E8 Drive them [sc. bees] gently into their hives with your brush. 1609 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie v. sig. F4 The Brush is a handful of benets, hysop, or other herbs, or boughs bound taper-wise together. 1619 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. III. 478 Ane kame-caise, with ane brusch, with certane other necessaris. 1758 S. Johnson Idler 13 May 41 If a coat be spotted, a Lady has a brush. 1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xvii. 275 You want a hard brush to brush sunlight off a wall. b. One of a pair of thin sticks set with long wire bristles with which to make a soft hissing sound on drums, cymbals, etc.; in full wire brush. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > drum > [noun] > drumstick sticka1398 tabor-stick1486 drumstick1589 tapskin1605 drum stave1832 potato masher1835 baguette1876 wire brush1927 brush1955 1927 [see brush-work n. at Compounds 3]. 1955 in M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xxiii. 288 Snare drum, sticks, brushes, [etc.]. 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 11 Brushes, wire brushes used to play the drums. 2. a. An instrument consisting of a bunch of hairs attached to a straight handle, for applying moisture to a surface, moist colours in painting, colouring, and similar purposes.These also vary greatly in size, from a small brush composed of a few fine elastic hairs of the sable, etc. fixed in a fine quill, to the large and coarse brushes of the house painter or plasterer (some of which have the hairs in distinct bunches). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush brush1483 painter's brush1685 brush-pencil1702 painting brush1737 paintbrush?1762 1483 Cath. Angl. 46 A Brusch for paynterys, celeps. 1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 13 Brishes, of three sorts, viz. A Stock Brish, a Round Brish, and a Pencil. With these Brishes, they wet old Walls before they mend them. 1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 63 Take a fine Hogs-Hair-Brush; with this, job and beat over your Work gently, that the Gold may be pressed in close. 1792 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 328 Rub it over all the joints..with a painter's brush. 1804 Huddesford Wiccam. Chaplet 136 No painter that's living can handle a brush! 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 295 Brushes of brown sable are generally made by the insertion of the hair into quills; hence the size of the brush is recognised by the various names of the birds which supply the quills employed—as eagle, swan (of various sizes), goose, duck, and crow. 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 295 The smaller kinds of brushes are still sometimes termed ‘pencils’. b. The painter's art or professional skill. brother of the brush: artist. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > painter paintera1325 painter-stainer1502 depaintera1522 picturer1581 pencil-man1589 brother of the brush1687 brushman1785 knight of the brush1885 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] pencilc1385 paintinga1387 painturea1398 imagery1531 depaint1594 limning1606 brush1789 1687 T. Cartwright in J. R. Bloxham Magdalen Coll. & James II (1886) (modernized text) 143 Pray make use of my Brother of the Brush. 1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. xxiii. 171 The honourable devices which the Pentagraphic Brethren of the brush have shewn in taking copies. 1789 J. Wolcot Subj. for Painters in Wks. (1812) II. 136 The world ne'er said nor thought it of thy Brush. 1833 Byron's Wks. (1846) 585/1 A young American brother of the brush. 1836 W. M. Praed Sketch Young Lady in Poems If I to-morrow Could manage just for half-an-hour Sir Joshua's brush to borrow. 1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. There is another picture from the same brush. 3. Any brush-like bunch or tuft. a. generally. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > tuft > like a brush or bush bush1530 brush1581 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 258 b Thys vayne~glorious proud pecocke is bedeckt with..glittering plumes, wrapt up together in a great brush. 1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 473 Equisetum arvense..the barren stem terminates in an abrupt brush of branches. b. The bushy tail, or bushy part of the tail, of an animal; spec. that of the fox. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > rump and tail > [noun] > tail > bushy brush1675 the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Vulpes > vulpes vulpes (fox) > miscellaneous parts of > tail and parts of bush1575 brush1675 chape1677 holy-water sprinkle1706 1675 [see Compounds 1]. 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush..a Fox's Tail. 1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 145 His Brush he drags, And sweeps the Mire impure. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 328 His [sc. the fox's] tail is called his brush or drag. 1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 317 The squirrel, flippant..whisks his brush. 1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. cxxxix. 114 If the landed interest took the same courses in fox-hunting, it would be easy to foretell how many brushes they would bring home. 1883 J. Mackenzie Day-dawn in Dark Places 162 I tied the brush of the tail [of the gemsbuck] to Blue~buck's saddle. 4. Entomology. A brush-like organ on the legs of bees and other insects. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > parts of insects > [noun] > leg(s) > brush-like organ on pecten1816 brush1828 1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 201 Tarsi short, with no brush beneath. 1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. 208 The legs of the Bee..have the first joint of the tarsus dilated..Its inner surface is provided with several rows of stiff hairs placed transversely, which gives to this part the name of the ‘brush’. 5. metallic brush: ‘a bundle of fine wires fixed in an insulating handle. Used for faradisation of less sensitive parts in anæsthetic conditions’ ( New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon); also a wire hair-brush. 6. a. A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > point of discharge > discontinuous discharge electric spark1745 spark1749 electric(al) spark1771 brush1789 brush discharge1849 jump spark1908 1789 Nicholson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 79 275 When the intensity was greatest, brushes, of a different kind from the former, appeared. 1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 390 Somewhat like a little brush deflagration. 1846 W. R. Grove On Correlation Physical Forces 24 The electric spark, the brush, and similar phenomena. c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 174/2 When any pointed object is presented to an electrised surface, the spark..becomes converted into a brush-like form; hence the term ‘electric brush’. b. A piece of metal terminating in metallic wires, or strips of flexible metal, used for securing good metallic connection between two portions of an electrical instrument. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > connection, contact > [noun] > contact device faceplate1860 brush-form1872 contact piece1876 brush1883 contact brush1884 contact block1901 make-and-break1903 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > dynamo > [noun] > contact brush1883 contact brush1884 slip ring1896 collector ring1909 1883 Knowledge 13 July 24/2 One of the brushes of the commutator presses the insulating piece. 7. Optics. Bright or dark figures accompanying certain phenomena observed in polarized light, which by their shaded and ill-defined edges combined with variations of breadth suggest the idea of brushes. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > polarization > [noun] > phenomena associated with brush1817 vibration1869 undulose extinction1889 Airy spiral1895 1817–45 J. F. W. Herschel Light in Encycl. Metrop. 559. 1857 H. Lloyd Wave-theory Light 193 The dark brushes, which cross the entire system of rings. 1857 H. Lloyd Wave-theory Light 122 Haidinger brushes..two brushes, of a pale orange-yellow colour, the axis of which coincides always with the track of the plane of polarization. 1878 H. P. Gurney Crystallogr. 111 In certain adjustments of the polariscope..two dark brushes run across the rings. II. from brush v.² 8. a. A brushing; an application of a brush. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > [noun] scouringa1398 scrub1621 scrubbing1749 brush1822 offscouring1896 scour1910 1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel III. xii. 331 He..gives his beaver a brush, and cocks it in the face of all creation. 1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. Give your hair a brush. b. Short for brush-off n. at brush v.² 5b. So brusheroo [-eroo suffix] . ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > a denial or refusal > rebuff rebuff1582 affrontment1611 backslap1828 marching orders1856 a slap in (or on) the face, in the eye, on the wrist1861 rebuffal1887 a smack in the face1895 brush1941 brush-off1941 a smack in the eye1941 1941 in Amer. Speech (1942) 17 12/1 That's why I'm getting the brusheroo. 1947 B. Schulberg Harder they Fall i. 27 The ones who had already made up their minds almost always got the brush. 1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag Dark (1954) ii. 25 So far I had found no chance to give Goodlee the brush. 1962 ‘E. Lacy’ Freeloaders viii. 175 I told Daniele what a crawling punk her boyfriend was, and she gave him the brush. 9. A graze, esp. on a horse's leg. (cf. brush v.² 6.) ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > disorders of legs > other disorders of leg attaint?1523 brush1710 core1710 sickle-hough1799 grogginess1818 weed1841 thorough-shot1891 the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [noun] > striking one leg against other > part injured by or injury speedy cut1692 brush1710 1710 London Gaz. No. 4649/4 A Grey Gelding..having..a Brush in the right Hip. Compounds C1. Simple attributive. Brush-like. ΚΠ 1675 London Gaz. No. 1044/4 A dark brown Nag..a brush tail, if not cut since stolen. 1703 London Gaz. No. 3895/4 Lost..a large liver-colour'd and white Spaniel, with a brush Tail. 1711 London Gaz. No. 4900/4 A whisk Tail and brush Mane. C2. General relations. a. Attributive. brush-drop n. ΚΠ 1878 J. A. Symonds Sonnets M. Angelo v A rich Embroidery Bedews my face from brush-drops thick and thin. brush-play n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork brush-work1868 brush-play1884 brush-power1885 brushing1896 1884 St. James's Gaz. 24 Jan. 6/2 An appearance of fusion obtained by a delicate dexterity of brush-play [in painting]. brush-power n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork brush-work1868 brush-play1884 brush-power1885 brushing1896 1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 10 Mar. 4/2 His brush-power was not more remarkable than his vision. brush-stroke n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > the arts in general > [noun] > work of art > detail of toucha1616 brush-stroke1898 1898 Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 3/1 [Gainsborough's] brush-strokes are scarcely due to separate acts of volition. 1963 Times 17 Jan. 4/4 The canvas becomes a web of shimmering, delicate brushstrokes. b. Objective. brush-maker n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] mop-maker1646 brush-maker1709 brush-manufacturer1812 broom-maker1817 broom-squire1825 1709 London Gaz. No. 4538/4 Joseph Wheeler, Brushmaker by Trade. brush-manufacturer n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] mop-maker1646 brush-maker1709 brush-manufacturer1812 broom-maker1817 broom-squire1825 1812 Examiner 12 Oct. 650/2 W. Jones..brush manufacturer. c. Similative and parasynthetic. brush-form adj. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > connection, contact > [noun] > contact device faceplate1860 brush-form1872 contact piece1876 brush1883 contact brush1884 contact block1901 make-and-break1903 1872 H. Watts Dict. Chem. II. 402 Electric discharge, especially in the brush-form, frequently takes place in curves. brush-like adj. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > unevenness > [adjective] > rough > rough and hairy (of things) shaggy?1611 shagged-ragged1612 squalid1628 brushy1682 buzzy1836 brush-like1859 brushy-looking1882 whiskery1927 1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 478/2 This end of the hair is..more or less ragged and brush-like. brush-shaped adj. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [adjective] > others lachrymal1607 tauriform1721 diminished1726 tailed1767 acinose1796 aciniform1798 acinous1809 slab-sided1817 lip-like1836 mound-like1843 high-centred1847 square-toed1851 brush-shaped1880 mushroom1884 bolster-shaped1900 arrowhead1934 narrow-gutted1952 panhandled1960 1880 A. Gray Bot. Text-bk. (ed. 6) 400 Brush-shaped..made up of numerous spreading hairs, etc. in a tuft, as the stigmas of Grasses. brush-tailed adj. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > rump and tail > [adjective] > relating to the tail > having a tail > having a bushy tail besom-tailed1695 brushing1734 brush-tailed1853 bushy-tailed1868 bush-tailed1872 1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. vi. 141 Four or five brace of tall brush-tailed greyhounds. C3. Special combinations. brush borer n. = brush driller n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process brush drawer1900 brush borer1924 brush driller1924 1924 Census 1921: Classif. Industries §688 Brush Borer. brush-burn n. an inflammation or sore caused by violent friction. brush-colour n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > painting or coating materials > [noun] > paint > coat applied with a brush brush-colour1845 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. 130 Floor-cloth manufacture... A second coating of paint is laid on..wholly with a brush... Hence it is called the ‘brush-colour’, to distinguish it from the first or ‘trowel-colour’. brush discharge n. = 6a. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > point of discharge > discontinuous discharge electric spark1745 spark1749 electric(al) spark1771 brush1789 brush discharge1849 jump spark1908 1849 H. M. Noad Lect. Electr. (ed. 3) 42 The difference between the brush discharge and the spark is, that in the former discharge begins at the root [etc.]. 1923 Pop. Wireless 13 Oct. 11 Brush discharge, a discharge of high-tension electricity, which takes the form of a luminous glow. brush drawer n. an operative who puts in the bristles in ‘drawn brushes’. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process brush drawer1900 brush borer1924 brush driller1924 1900 Daily News 6 Nov. 9/1 Brush drawer. brush driller n. an operative who drills the holes in the stocks of brushes and brooms. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun] > involved in specific process brush drawer1900 brush borer1924 brush driller1924 1924 Census 1921: Classif. Industries §688 Brush..Driller. brush-gold n. Painting gold pigment for applying with a brush. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > colouring matter > [noun] > pigments yelloweOE motey1353 arsenica1393 orpimentc1395 auripigmenta1398 ochre1440 pink1464 massicot1472 yellow ochre1482 orpine1548 painter's gold1591 spruce1668 giallolino1728 king's yellow1738 Naples yellow1738 stil de grain1769 yellow earth1794 queen's yellow1806 chromate1819 chrome yellow1819 Oxford ochre1827 Indian yellow1831 Italian pink1835 Montpellier yellow1835 Turner1835 quercitron lake1837 jaune brillant1851 zinc chromate1851 zinc sulphide1851 brush-gold1861 zooxanthin1868 Oxford chrome1875 aureolin1879 cadmium yellow1879 Cassel yellow1882 Neapolitan yellow1891 zinc chrome1892 Mars1899 jaune jonquille1910 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth I. 13 Margaret Van Eyck gave him a little brush-gold, and some vermilion. brush-grain n. a grain produced in painting woodwork by drawing the brush over a wet coat of paint so that the under-coat is seen through the brush-marks. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > grain produced in painting woodwork graining1834 brush-grain1901 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > [noun] > engraving tools > specific effect brush-grain1901 1901 Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 310/1 In the painting of wood~work, when the second coat, say of vermilion, is made to show through the third, say of brown, by passing the brush over it while the last coat is still wet, the result is spoken of as ‘brush-grain’. 1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 21 Brush grain, a fine grain produced by the action of abrasive brushes. brush-grass n. Andropogon Gryllus. ΚΠ 1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) i. 30 It..may be called in English, Brush-grasse. brush-hat n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > other cap (also hat) of maintenancec1475 hat1483 wishing-hat1600 cockle hat1603 porringer1623 poke1632 custard-cap1649 bonnet1675 muff-box1678 Caroline1687 Quaker1778 meat safe1782 balloon hat1784 gypsy hat1785 cabriolet1797 gypsy bonnet1803 Gypsy1806 Wellington hat1809 fan-tail-hat1810 umbrella hat1817 radical1828 caubeen1831 topi1835 montera1838 Petersham1845 squash hat1860 Moab1864 kiddy1865 flap-hat1866 Dolly Varden1872 brush-hata1877 potae1881 Pope's-hat1886 plateau1890 kelly1915 push-back1920 kiss-me-quick hat1963 pakul1982 tinfoil hat1982 a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. Brush-hat, one in which the surface is continually brushed by a hand~brush, during the process of sizing. brush-holder n. (see quot. 1904). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > motor > [noun] > other parts of gear1814 controller1836 phonic wheel1878 reverser1879 rotor1892 stator1892 brush-holder1894 interpole1907 phonic motor1924 1894 W. P. Maycock Electr. Lighting (ed. 2) i. vi. §114. 179 Construction of Brush-holders. 1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 72/1 Brush Holder, the support or frame carrying the copper (or carbon) strips by which the current enters or leaves a motor or dynamo. brush-iron-ore n. an iron ore found in the Forest of Dean (see quots.). ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others bloodstone1504 haematite1543 yellow share1590 keel1596 brush-ore1678 mush1686 brush-iron-ore1695 iron glance1792 specular iron (also iron ore)1796 steel-ore1796 oligistc1803 black band1811 old man1811 spathose iron-ore1823 pitticite1826 siderose1834 blink klip1835 pharmacosiderite1835 sphaerosiderite1837 fossil ore1846 jacutinga1846 vignite1846 siderite1848 junckerite1865 needle iron-ore1867 xanthosiderite1868 specularite1892 pitch ore1896 minette1902 taconite1905 1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 178 Minera ferri Stalactica..called Brush-Iron-Ore. brush-ore n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others bloodstone1504 haematite1543 yellow share1590 keel1596 brush-ore1678 mush1686 brush-iron-ore1695 iron glance1792 specular iron (also iron ore)1796 steel-ore1796 oligistc1803 black band1811 old man1811 spathose iron-ore1823 pitticite1826 siderose1834 blink klip1835 pharmacosiderite1835 sphaerosiderite1837 fossil ore1846 jacutinga1846 vignite1846 siderite1848 junckerite1865 needle iron-ore1867 xanthosiderite1868 specularite1892 pitch ore1896 minette1902 taconite1905 1678 Philos. Trans. 1677 (Royal Soc.) 12 932 The Iron-Ore..is found in great abundance..The best, which they call their Brush-Ore, is of a Blewish colour. 1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 33 A curious stalactite, rich in iron, and termed brush ore, from its being found hanging from the tops of caverns in striæ resembling a brush. brush hand n. a house-painter. ΚΠ 1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 36 I did a deal of house-painting at one time; I was a pretty smart brush hand. brush-pencil n. an artist's colour brush. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > brush brush1483 painter's brush1685 brush-pencil1702 painting brush1737 paintbrush?1762 1702 R. Neve Apopiroscopy i. 41 With a Brush-Pencil, Marble the thing you would Varnish. brush-tail porcupine n. (also brush-tailed porcupine) (see quot. 1885). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Hystricidae (porcupine) ilc897 urchinc1400 porcupine?a1425 brush-tail porcupine1885 thorn-swine1889 porky1899 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 518/2 The second genus of Old-World porcupines is Atherura, the Brush-tailed Porcupines,..with long tails tipped with bundles of peculiar flattened spines. 1953 G. Durrell Overloaded Ark iv. 84 A Brush-tailed Porcupine..about the size of a cat... He was mostly black in colour. 1962 Times 20 Dec. 9/7 The Borneo Brushtail Porcupine. brush-tea n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > drink > tea manufacture > [noun] > types of dry tea > other types bing1702 bohea1702 brush-tea1813 Ceylon tea1814 padre1836 oolong1845 Formosa tea1889 1813 W. Milburn Oriental Commerce II. 525 Brush Tea—so called from the leaves being twisted into small cords like pack-thread, about 1 ½ to 2 inches long. brush-tongued adj. having a tongue tipped with a brush-like cluster of filaments. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having tongue tipped with filaments brush-tongued1880 1880 St. James's Budget 17 Sept. 12/2 Regions where humming-birds and brush-tongued lories abound. brush-varnish n. (see quot.). ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > equipment for painting or drawing > [noun] > varnish mastic varnish1510 white varnish1560 varnish1633 brush-varnish1875 1875 T. Seaton Man. Fret Cutting 31 Should you wish to varnish the work that has been fret cut or carved, you must do it with brush-varnish, made with spirits of wine..laid on with a camel-hair brush. brushware n. goods consisting of all kinds of brushes. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > goods consisting of brushes brushware1923 1923 Glasgow Herald 9 July 9 Brushware and pottery. 1960 Times 13 Jan. 17/4 Manufacture of household and toilet brushware is generally highly mechanized. brush-wheel n. (a) a kind of friction-wheel which turns another similar wheel by means of bristles, cloth, leather, etc., fixed on their circumferences; (b) a circular revolving brush used for polishing, etc. ΚΠ 1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 548 Wheels..made to turn each other by means of bristles fixed in their circumference; these are called brush wheels. brush-work n. (a) painting, as distinguished from drawing; spec. the characteristic method (of a painter) of laying on the colours; (b) the use of the wire brush on percussion instruments. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > [noun] > a painting > brushwork brush-work1868 brush-play1884 brush-power1885 brushing1896 society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > beating drum > [noun] > stroke on drum > types of stroke flam1796 brush-work1868 drag1927 rimshot1934 1868 Illustr. London News 11 Apr. There is no obtrusively pretentious brushwork nor garish colouring. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 218/2 Works..wanting in the trenchant brush~work..of subsequent productions. 1893 Daily News 8 Apr. 3/6 The brush work of this incomparable painter. 1927 Melody Maker Aug. 807/3 In this article I have discussed brush-work in conjunction with the side drum stick. 1935 Discovery Sept. 261/1 Flaws in the brushwork of the eyelids. Draft additions 1993 In colloquial phrase as daft (mad, etc.) as a brush, quite daft or mad; crazy. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad maddish1573 skyred1581 cracked1610 conundrumed1629 touchy-headed1666 touched1672 half-witted1712 maddy1719 Fifish1821 cracky1850 not all there1864 mattoid1891 tetched1930 as daft (mad, etc.) as a brush1932 1932 H. Williamson Labouring Life i. 20 Mazed as a brish (brush)—Said of the young literary gent. nicknamed The Beard. 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry xiv. 129 ‘As daft as a brush’ (which flops, unable to stand upright). 1980 J. O'Faolain No Country for Young Men vi. 136 She's as mad as a brush. Thinks she's privy to secrets of national importance. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022). brushn.³ Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/ Forms: In Middle English broush, Scottish brwhs, 1500s brous, Middle English–1500s brusche. Etymology: ? < brush v.¹ 1. a. A forcible rush, a hostile collision or encounter; in later use, chiefly a short but smart encounter. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed encounter > [noun] fightc893 coursec1325 stourc1325 acounterc1330 meetingc1330 setc1330 showera1375 brusha1400 semblya1400 hosting1422 poynyec1425 conflictc1440 militancea1460 grate1460 rencounter1471 chaplea1500 flitea1513 concourse?1520 concursion1533 rescounter1543 spurnc1560 rencontrea1572 discourse1573 action1579 combat1582 opposition1598 do1915 society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > [noun] > an act or instance of > a hostile encounter encounter1297 counterc1330 brusha1400 recountering1410 recountera1470 encountering1482 re-encounter1525 re-encountry1569 passage1608 congression?1611 confronta1626 traverse1640 clash1646 congress1646 conjunction1648 head-to-head1899 go-around1912 mano a mano1950 face-off1956 bitchfest1985 a1400 Alexander 783 With slik a brout & a brusche [Dubl. MS. broush] þe bataill a-sembild. c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xvi. 120 Than thai layid on dwyhs for dwyhs [= dush], Mony a rap and mony a brwhs. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 51 The lansis and grit speiris with [thair] force, Maid sic ane brusche vpone the bardit horss. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 186 The feildis baith togidder thair did june, With sic ane brous quhill mony speris brak. a1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xx. 31 His courage was flush, he'd venture a brush. 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida v. iii. 34 Tempt not yet the brushes of the warre. View more context for this quotation 1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 54 Let us go and have t' other Brush with them. 1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. iv. 116 I became a scientific pugilist, and now and then took a brush with an oldster. 1860 C. Kingsley Misc. (ed. 2) I. 18 A smart brush with the Spaniards. b. Hence at a brush, at the first brush, †to stand brush; at or after the first brush: at or after the first encounter or meeting. ΘΚΠ the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > shortness in time [phrase] > instantaneously as thou turnest thine handc1225 at a brusha1400 at one (also a) bruntc1450 with a whisk1487 with a whip Sir John1550 in the turn (also turning) of a hand1564 with or at a wink1585 at a blowa1616 in a wink1693 at a stroke1709 in or wi' a whid1719 in the trip of a minute1728 with a thrash1870 the twinkling of a bedpost1871 in a whisk1900 in jig-time1916 the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (intransitive)] > resist > resist resolutely i-standOE atstand?c1225 to hold out rubbers1573 to stand out1574 to hold out1585 stay1593 to stand one's ground1600 to stick out1677 to stand brush1794 the world > time > relative time > the past > [adverb] > at first, originally, or primitively principally1389 forthmostc1450 primarily1601 primordially1603 primitively1607 originarily1610 fontallya1617 originallya1620 primevallya1711 at or after the first brush1815 archetypally1854 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > meeting or encounter > [noun] > specifically of persons > first at the first brush1815 a1400 Alexander (Dublin) 2133 Þe folke of þe cite..barred bremely at a brush þe foure brod ȝates. 1756 R. Symmer in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. ii. 460 IV. 378 The French will not carry the place at a brush. 1794 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana (1795) 63 Love will stand brush, against all wind and weather. 1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering III. xiii. 257 So you intend to give up this poor young fellow at the first brush? 1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. ii. 265 The people were..civil to you if you were civil to them, after the first brush. c. A rapid run or race; a contest in speed. dialect and U.S. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > [noun] course1490 race1513 coursing1569 brush1841 1841 Spirit of Times 16 Oct. 390/3 The third mile was a ‘brush’ throughout. 1861 A. Trollope Framley Parsonage I. xiv. 274 Mark..would enjoy a brush across the country quite as well as he himself. 1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. ix. 105 He may have a couple of brushes of a quarter of a mile each. 1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden in Maine iii. 20 He..'llowed his hoss ud beat mine 'n a half mile brush. 1906 N.Y. Evening Post 16 June Apart from the annual regatta, there are endless minor ‘brushes’ for the ‘fresh-water sailormen’. 2. figurative. Cf. ‘rub’. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > [noun] sorrowOE ail?c1225 scorpion?c1225 dolec1290 angera1325 anguishc1330 cupa1340 aggrievancea1400 discomfortc1405 afflictionc1429 sytec1440 pressurea1500 constraint1509 tenterhook1532 grief1535 annoying1566 troubler1567 griper1573 vexation1588 infliction1590 trouble1591 temptationc1595 load1600 torment1600 wringer1602 sorance1609 inflicting1611 brusha1616 freighta1631 woe-heart1637 ordeala1658 cut-up1782 unpleasure1792 iron maiden1870 mental cruelty1899 a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) v. v. 7 Salsbury..who in rage forgets Aged contusions, and all brush of Time. View more context for this quotation 1676 M. Hale Contempl. Moral & Divine 347 Though an humble man may upon the very score of his humility and meekness, receive a brush in the world. 1800 Duke of Wellington Let. 24 May in Dispatches (1837) I. 121 I have given them a brush through Colonel Pater, and have informed him that the system has not been hitherto approved. 3. ? A slight attack of illness. (Cf. brash n.¹) ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > [noun] > bout or attack of > slight attack spicea1479 touch1600 smatch1647 brush1733 waff1808 whiff1837 1733 Swift's Corr. II. 717 I [Dr. Sheridan] hope nothing ails her but a brush. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † brushn.⁴ Origin: Apparently a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: bruke n. Etymology: Apparently a variant of bruke n., although the form is difficult to explain. Obsolete. = bruke n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Phytophaga or Chrysomeloidea > family Bruchiidae or Lariidae > member of genus Bruchus brusha1382 bruchian1841 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. xxxiii. 4 Gederede togidere shul be ȝoure spoiles, as is gedered brush [a1425 bruke]. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2021). brushn.⁵ Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/, Australian English /brʌʃ/, New Zealand English /brʌʃ/ Etymology: Of uncertain origin. Australian and New Zealand slang. A girl, a young woman; frequently derogatory. Also collective. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun] daughterOE maidenOE young womanOE mayc1175 burdc1225 maidc1275 wenchc1290 file1303 virginc1330 girla1375 damselc1380 young ladya1393 jilla1425 juvenclec1430 young person1438 domicellea1464 quean1488 trull1525 pulleta1533 Tib1533 kittyc1560 dell1567 gillian1573 nymph1584 winklota1586 frotion1587 yuffrouw1589 pigeon1592 tit1599 nannicock1600 muggle1608 gixy1611 infanta1611 dilla1627 tittiea1628 whimsy1631 ladykin1632 stammel1639 moggie1648 zitellaa1660 baggagea1668 miss1668 baby1684 burdie1718 demoiselle1720 queanie?1800 intombi1809 muchacha1811 jilt1816 titter1819 ragazza1827 gouge1828 craft1829 meisie1838 sheila1839 sixteenc1840 chica1843 femme1846 muffin1854 gel1857 quail1859 kitten1870 bud1880 fräulein1883 sub-debutante1887 sweet-and-twenty1887 flapper1888 jelly1889 queen1894 chick1899 pusher1902 bit of fluff1903 chicklet1905 twist and twirl1905 twist1906 head1913 sub-deb1916 tabby1916 mouse1917 tittie1918 chickie1919 wren1920 bim1922 nifty1923 quiff1923 wimp1923 bride1924 job1927 junior miss1927 hag1932 tab1932 sort1933 palone1934 brush1941 knitting1943 teenybopper1966 weeny-bopper1972 Valley Girl1982 the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun] > girls collectively girlism1788 girlery1806 girldom1848 giggle1940 brush1941 1941 in S. J. Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 1945 F. Sargeson When Wind Blows vii. 55 I don't go looking for trouble with brushes that are under age. 1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 200 What comes along but an Iti bint, a real grouse brush she was. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned iii. 26 To him all girls were collectively ‘the brush’. 1960 N. Hilliard Maori Girl iii. ix. 239 It's the good-looking brush that give a man all the trouble. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online June 2021). brushv.¹ Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/ Forms: Also Middle English brusche(n, Middle English brusshe. Etymology: Perhaps identical with French brosser intransitive ‘to dash through dense underwood’, said of a stag or a hunter, which Littré separates < brosser transitive ‘to brush’, and refers immediately to brosse ‘brushwood’. But it is possible that the English word is onomatopoeic, or that onomatopoeia has affected its use: compare rush and br- words like brast (burst), break , bruise . In modern use, also affected by brush v.², especially in sense 4. †1. intransitive. To rush with force or speed, usually into collision. Obsolete except as influenced by brush v.²: see quot. 1863 at sense 4a. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and violently driveeOE fallOE reseOE routOE rashOE swip?c1225 weothec1275 startlec1300 lushc1330 swapc1386 brusha1400 spurna1400 buschc1400 frushc1400 rushc1405 rushle1553 rouse1582 hurl1609 powder1632 slash1689 stave1819 tilt1831 bulge1834 smash1835 storm1837 stream1847 ripsnort1932 slam1973 a1400 Alexander 963 And he halis furth on hede..Brusches doune by þe berne & bitterly wepis. ?a1400 Morte Arth. 3681 Than brothely they bekyre with boustouse tacle, Bruschese boldlye one burde. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. xiv. 192 Furth bruschit the sawle with gret stremys of blude. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 1192 Bothe batels on bent brusshet to-gedur. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 10969 Pantasilia..brusshet into batell. a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) i. iii. 78 For feare to brush at the iniquity of men, betray ye the cause of the gods? a1650 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 388 His eares brushed out of blood. 2. †a. transitive. To force, or drive with a rush. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > with a rush brushc1425 c1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xiii. 93 (Jam.) Wpe he stwrly bruschyd the dure, And laid it flatlyngis in the flure. a1460 Play Sacrament 649 Brushe them hens bothe & that anon. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 28 Blud fra byrneis was bruschyt on the greyn. b. To force on (figurative); to drive hard. U.S. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > motivate [verb (transitive)] > incite or instigate > bring about by incitement stirc897 forthclepe?c1000 raisec1175 entice1297 rearc1325 excitea1340 arta1450 provocate?a1475 suscitate1528 to stir upc1530 provoke1535 store1552 concitea1555 upsteer1558 spirit1598 solicit1602 foment1606 fana1616 proritate1620 incite1627 ferment1660 spirita1680 brush1755 whip1805 to put (also set) (the) spurs to1819 fillipa1822 instigate1852 spark-plug1945 whomp1961 the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > impel or drive animates > rapidly brush1827 romp1895 june1903 society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > drive a horse-drawn vehicle > drive hard brush1868 1755 Connecticut Gaz. 29 Nov. (Schele de Vere) As tending to beget ill will, and brushing a disunion in the several governments in America. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie x I have at this moment a dog brushing a deer. 1868 H. Woodruff & C. J. Foster Trotting Horse Amer. v. 70 Eight or ten days prior to the race..brush him a half mile. 1904 N.Y. Times 28 Nov. 5 The drivers..spent a couple of hours before dusk brushing their fast steppers on the upper stretch. 3. intransitive. To burst away with a rush, move off abruptly, be gone, decamp, make off. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > go away suddenly or hastily fleec825 runOE swervea1225 biwevec1275 skip1338 streekc1380 warpa1400 yerna1400 smoltc1400 stepc1460 to flee (one's) touch?1515 skirr1548 rubc1550 to make awaya1566 lope1575 scuddle1577 scoura1592 to take the start1600 to walk off1604 to break awaya1616 to make off1652 to fly off1667 scuttle1681 whew1684 scamper1687 whistle off1689 brush1699 to buy a brush1699 to take (its, etc.) wing1704 decamp1751 to take (a) French leave1751 morris1765 to rush off1794 to hop the twig1797 to run along1803 scoot1805 to take off1815 speela1818 to cut (also make, take) one's lucky1821 to make (take) tracks (for)1824 absquatulize1829 mosey1829 absquatulate1830 put1834 streak1834 vamoose1834 to put out1835 cut1836 stump it1841 scratch1843 scarper1846 to vamoose the ranch1847 hook1851 shoo1851 slide1859 to cut and run1861 get1861 skedaddle1862 bolt1864 cheese it1866 to do a bunkc1870 to wake snakes1872 bunk1877 nit1882 to pull one's freight1884 fooster1892 to get the (also to) hell out (of)1892 smoke1893 mooch1899 to fly the coop1901 skyhoot1901 shemozzle1902 to light a shuck1905 to beat it1906 pooter1907 to take a run-out powder1909 blow1912 to buzz off1914 to hop it1914 skate1915 beetle1919 scram1928 amscray1931 boogie1940 skidoo1949 bug1950 do a flit1952 to do a scarper1958 to hit, split or take the breeze1959 to do a runner1980 to be (also get, go) ghost1986 1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Brush, to Fly or Run away. 1718 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 63 Off they brush'd, both Foot and Horse. 1728 C. Cibber Vanbrugh's Provok'd Husband ii. i. 33 I believe I had as good brush off. 1730 H. Fielding Author's Farce i. vi. 11 Come, Sir, will you please to brush? 1820 Ld. Byron tr. L. Pulci Morgante Maggiore lxv He brush'd apace On to the abbey. 1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the Banker i. viii. 154 Enoch brushed out of the door. 1842 R. H. Barham Dead Drummer in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 208 And one Sergeant Matcham Had ‘brush'd with the dibs’. 4. a. [Blending this with brush v.²] intransitive. To move briskly by, through, or against anything, grazing it or sweeping it aside in passing. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along scum1513 shave1513 sweep1538 raze1555 grazea1616 frizzle1634 brush1647 brush1674 to brush (a thing) over1700 skim1796 skiff1807 scuff1818 skitter1885 swab1892 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement over, across, through, or past > [verb (transitive)] > move past > closely > graze or sweep aside in passing brush1674 1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 143 To brush through many atoms of room. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 536. ¶1 A pretty young Thing..brushing by me. 1713 J. Addison in Guardian 17 Sept. 2/1 The Servants..begin to brush very familiarly by me. 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 13 Often brushing through the dripping grass. 1822 T. Hood Two Peacocks of Bedfont ii, in London Mag. Oct. 304 They brush between The church-yard's humble walls. 1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola III. xi. 117 He had brushed against a man whose face he had not stayed to recognize. 1885 R. Browning Ferishtah's Fancies 9 Where dogs brush by thee and express contempt. b. to brush round: to bestir oneself. U.S. colloquial. ΚΠ 1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks x. 127 If the feller that only had one talent had brushed round, he could 'a' made a spec on it. 1875 J. G. Holland Sevenoaks xii. 156 You an' me has got to be brushin' round. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021). brushv.² Brit. /brʌʃ/, U.S. /brəʃ/ Forms: Also Middle English brusche, Middle English–1500s brusshe, brushe, 1600s brish. Etymology: < brush n.²; or < French brosser, similarly formed < brosse. 1. a. transitive. To pass a brush briskly across (a surface), so as to sweep off dirt, dust, or light particles, or to smooth the surface; as to brush a coat, a hat, one's hair, a person (i.e. his clothes or hair). ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)] swopec1000 sweepa1300 brusha1475 streak1492 soop?a1500 to brush upa1600 besom1791 broom1838 to brush down1839 a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 180 To brusche þem [sc. robes] clenly. 1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 253 To brush, and lay vp their apparell. 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. ii. 38 A brushes his hat a mornings. View more context for this quotation 1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 67 in Sylva Brush and cleanse them..from the dust. 1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. ii, in Poems 76 He serv'd the Squire and brush'd the Coat he made. 1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 7 Molly..brush'd it with a broom. 1840 F. Marryat Olla Podrida II. xxi. 75 The children could not be brushed, for the brushes were in the carpet bag. 1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. The nurse brushes the children's hair. ‘They were washing and brushing themselves in the inn.’ †b. figurative. To thrash: esp. in to brush one's coat for him. Obsolete. (Cf. to dust a person's jacket at jacket n. Phrases 3.) ΘΚΠ the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (intransitive)] > specifically a person to lay ona1225 to dust a person's jacket1630 to brush one's coat for him1665 to give (one) sock(s)1699 pepper1829 lam1875 beast1990 the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person to-beatc893 threshOE bustc1225 to lay on or upon?c1225 berrya1250 to-bunea1250 touchc1330 arrayc1380 byfrapc1380 boxc1390 swinga1400 forbeatc1420 peal?a1425 routa1425 noddlea1450 forslinger1481 wipe1523 trima1529 baste1533 waulk1533 slip1535 peppera1550 bethwack1555 kembc1566 to beat (a person) black and blue1568 beswinge1568 paik1568 trounce1568 canvass1573 swaddle?1577 bebaste1582 besoop1589 bumfeage1589 dry-beat1589 feague1589 lamback1589 clapperclaw1590 thrash1593 belam1595 lam1595 beswaddle1598 bumfeagle1598 belabour1600 tew1600 flesh-baste1611 dust1612 feeze1612 mill1612 verberate1614 bethumpa1616 rebuke1619 bemaul1620 tabor1624 maula1627 batterfang1630 dry-baste1630 lambaste1637 thunder-thump1637 cullis1639 dry-banga1640 nuddle1640 sauce1651 feak1652 cotton1654 fustigate1656 brush1665 squab1668 raddle1677 to tan (a person's) hide1679 slam1691 bebump1694 to give (a person) his load1694 fag1699 towel1705 to kick a person's butt1741 fum1790 devel1807 bray1808 to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813 mug1818 to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821 welt1823 hidea1825 slate1825 targe1825 wallop1825 pounce1827 to lay into1838 flake1841 muzzle1843 paste1846 looder1850 frail1851 snake1859 fettle1863 to do over1866 jacket1875 to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877 to take apart1880 splatter1881 to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884 to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886 to do up1887 to —— (the) hell out of1887 to beat — bells out of a person1890 soak1892 to punch out1893 stoush1893 to work over1903 to beat up1907 to punch up1907 cream1929 shellac1930 to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931 duff1943 clobber1944 to fill in1948 to bash up1954 to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976 to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983 beast1990 becurry- fan- 1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 61 Colonel Balfour, and his English, having brushed the Spaniards, the States capitulated. 1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 209 They had their Coats soundly brushed by them. View more context for this quotation 1783 Ainsworth's Thes. Linguæ Latinæ (new ed.) ii Converro, to beat one, to brush his coat for him. c. with complement, as to brush (a thing) clean, etc., to brush down, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)] swopec1000 sweepa1300 brusha1475 streak1492 soop?a1500 to brush upa1600 besom1791 broom1838 to brush down1839 1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby iv. 24 His hair..was brushed stiffly up from a low protruding forehead. 1858 G. Glenny Gardener's Every-day Bk. (new ed.) 279 Sweeping away all dead leaves, and frequently brushing down the shelves. 1879 R. Browning Ivan Ivanovitch in Idyls I. 70 His broad hands smoothed her head, as fain to brush it free From fancies. d. absol. Also to brush away: see away adv. 6. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > brush or sweep [verb (intransitive)] sweep1340 to brush up1811 to brush away1855 1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. iv. 43 She showed it by brushing away viciously at Margaret's hair. 1888 N.E.D. at Brush Mod. You brush too hard! e. To go over with a brush-harrow. ΚΠ 1859 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1857–8 3 490 The ground should be fresh plowed, harrowed and rolled, or brushed. 2. a. to brush up: to brighten up by brushing, to free from dust or cobwebs, to furbish up, rub up, renovate; also figurative to revive or refresh one's acquaintance with anything. (Pope associates this with using a brush in painting, but perhaps only by a wordplay.) Also absol. (rare) and intransitive. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)] swopec1000 sweepa1300 brusha1475 streak1492 soop?a1500 to brush upa1600 besom1791 broom1838 to brush down1839 society > education > learning > [verb (transitive)] > relearn to rub up1613 relearn1694 refresh1781 to brush up1788 the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > brush or sweep [verb (intransitive)] sweep1340 to brush up1811 to brush away1855 society > education > learning > [verb (intransitive)] > relearn to brush up1818 a1600 A. Scott Eagle & Robin in Ever-green (1761) I. 233 Proud Pecocks..Bruscht up thair Pens that solemn Day. 1605 G. Chapman et al. Eastward Hoe iii. sig. D3 You should brushe vp my olde Mistresse. 1706 A. Pope Let. 10 Apr. in Wks. (1871–89) I. 28 You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbours. 1788 Ld. Sheffield in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1861) II. 220 Nickolls..was happy in brushing up his acquaintance with you. 1811 London Pract. Midwifery (ed. 3) vi. 140 The practitioner should always be cheerful... Whenever he perceives his patient looking at him, he should brush up, and appear as cheerful as he can. 1818 J. Keats Let. 27 Apr. (1958) I. 275 Don't you think I am brushing up in the letter way? 1832 H. Martineau For Each & All i. 5 She must brush up her French. 1835 C. Dickens Let. ?June (1965) I. 66 I felt rather tired this morning when I got up; but as I did not do so until past eleven, I soon brushed up again. 1840 Knickerbocker 16 162 I thought I must brush up for the occasion. 1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. x. 162 I brushed up my recollections of the map of England. 1903 Dial 1 Sept. (advt.) If you wish to brush up on your English, you will find nothing better. 1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 5 Oct. 8 The ex-governor must brush up a bit on his ecclesiastical studies. b. intransitive. To make oneself more presentable or ready for action; to refresh one's memory. U.S. ΚΠ 1844 W. T. Thompson Major Jones's Courtship (ed. 2) i. 12 When she come, I brushed up, and was termined to have a rite serious talk with her. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xvi. 265 We here overhauled our kit, brushed up a little, and put on our best gear for a visit. c. Hence brush-up n. the action or process of ‘brushing up’. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > [noun] > making smooth and sleek sleeking1578 slicking1600 brush-up1897 society > education > learning > [noun] > relearning rub-up1846 relearning1859 brush-up1951 1897 E. Terry Let. 3 July in E. Terry & G. B. Shaw Corr. (1931) 224 She looked quite nice when she'd had a nice ‘wash and a brush up’. 1912 ‘R. Andom’ On Tour with Troddles (new ed.) ix. 62 What we really did want was a wash and a brush up, with a good substantial meal to follow. 1951 A. Christie They came to Baghdad xix. 192 I left her to have a wash and brush up. 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 127 If your knowledge is hazy, rusty, in need of a brush-up. 3. to brush (a thing) over: to paint or wet its surface with a brush; to paint lightly; also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > coat or cover with a layer [verb (transitive)] > smear or spread with a substance > lightly touch1569 to brush (a thing) over1628 the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along scum1513 shave1513 sweep1538 raze1555 grazea1616 frizzle1634 brush1647 brush1674 to brush (a thing) over1700 skim1796 skiff1807 scuff1818 skitter1885 swab1892 1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xxi. sig. E3 Practise him a little in men, and brush him ore with good companie. 1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 12 They finish the Plastering..by..brishing it over with fair Water. 1740 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (ed. 2) App. p. lxii Brush them over with brandy. 1763 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting III. i. 5 It is just brushed over for the lights and shades. 4. a. To rub softly as with a brush in passing; to graze lightly or quickly, as in passing. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along scum1513 shave1513 sweep1538 raze1555 grazea1616 frizzle1634 brush1647 brush1674 to brush (a thing) over1700 skim1796 skiff1807 scuff1818 skitter1885 swab1892 1647 H. More Cupid's Confl. xxiii. 171 My mightie wings high stretch'd..I brush the starres. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 321 And brush the liquid Seas with lab'ring Oars. 1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. ix. 569 It almost brush'd the helm. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 11 To spurn dull sleep, and brush the flow'ry dale. 1850 J. S. Blackie tr. Æschylus Lyrical Dramas I. 31 Light with swift foot she brushed the doorstead. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 270 Light Zephyrus even-breathing Brushes a sleeping sea. figurative.1807 Salmagundi 20 Mar. 115 [They] have been brushed rather rudely by the hand of time. b. intransitive. To come lightly against with the impact of a brush. ΚΠ 1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. lix. 178 He became so great that his fethers brushed against the Kings Crown. †c. transitive. To draw or pass (anything) lightly like a brush over (something). Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move or cause to move progressively in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly over or along > move (something) lightly over or along brush1690 1690 J. Dryden Don Sebastian iv. i. 102 A Thousand Nights have brush'd their balmy wings Over these eyes. 5. a. To remove (dust, etc.) with a brush, to sweep (away). Also transferred and figurative. To sweep away as with a brush, to carry off lightly in passing. (Usually with adverbial or prepositional adjunct.) ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)] > remove (dirt) by brushing or sweeping sweepa1382 soop?a1500 whisk1626 brush1645 the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > clear out or away > sweep away forswift1513 sweep1560 brush1645 1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 54 From the Boughs brush off the evil dew. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 122 The Cows and Goats..That..brush the Dew. View more context for this quotation 1813 Ld. Byron Giaour (Orig. Draft) ii If..the transient breeze..brush one blossom from the trees. 1814 R. Southey Roderick xvi She brush'd away the dews. 1834 F. Marryat Jacob Faithful III. x. 182 Tom passed the back of his hand across his eyes to brush away a tear. 1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career ii. 41 Brushing tears from his eyes. 1884 Manch. Examiner 26 Nov. 5/1 It is surely high time to brush this nonsense away. 1886 Manch. Examiner 8 Jan. 6/1 Brushing the snow and slush into little mounds. b. to brush off: figurative, to rebuff, dismiss (a person, etc.). So brush-off n. a rebuff, dismissal. Originally U.S. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > statement > refusal > [verb (transitive)] > rebuff rebut1488 reject1529 counterbuff1579 rebuffa1586 repel1593 slighta1616 to blow off1631 squab1812 respue1818 snout1916 stiff-arm1927 to knock back1930 to brush off1941 the mind > language > statement > refusal > [noun] > a denial or refusal > rebuff rebuff1582 affrontment1611 backslap1828 marching orders1856 a slap in (or on) the face, in the eye, on the wrist1861 rebuffal1887 a smack in the face1895 brush1941 brush-off1941 a smack in the eye1941 1941 J. R. Parker Attorneys at Law i. 10 I'd have given my eye teeth to hear Forbes getting the brush-off. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? vi. 132 Since Sammy was waiting for Julian the chances are he'd only brush me off. 1943 L. Browne See what I Mean? i. 8 No matter where I turned, I was given the brush-off. 1944 Amer. Speech 19 310/2 The organizer of a Brush-off-club ‘made up of mournful soldiers who were given the hemlock cup by femmes back home’. 1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 71 Casual kindness in a man she had found to be the preliminary to a brush-off. 1958 M. Dickens Man Overboard v. 68 The bleakly familiar: ‘The post has been filled’, or the more courteous brush-off: ‘We will keep your letter on record in case a suitable post arises’. 1969 Listener 31 July 131/2 The problem of the future of British sovereignty can no longer be brushed off with humorous references to accepting foreign referees' decisions in international football matches. 6. To injure or hurt by grazing; said esp. of a horse grazing his fetlock with the shoe or hoof of the fellow foot. Also absol. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (transitive)] > strike one leg against other brush1691 the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > habits and actions of horse > [verb (intransitive)] > strike one leg against other interfere1530 overreach1590 cut1660 hitch1686 click1713 brush1868 1691 London Gaz. No. 2661/4 A grey Gelding about 15 hands..his Knees brush'd. 1868 Bp. Fraser in Life (1887) 158 I hope he [a horse] does not ‘cut’ or ‘brush’ in his action. 1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 327/2 Such severe and..unnecessary pain, as the horse [inflicts] by hitting or brushing himself behind. 7. To trim (a hedge or tree, the sides of a ditch or path). local. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > hedging > make or repair hedge [verb (transitive)] > trim hedge brush1513 brish1636 steep1741 beclip1785 switch1811 skirt1879 pare1884–5 1513 [implied in: Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/4) For toppyng of xij treys & broshyng. (at brushing n. 1)]. 1809 Warehorne Highway-bk. 29 June (E.D.D.) For brushing the footpath, 1s. od. 1845 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 6 ii. 479 They [sc. hedges] are carefully brushed, or clipped, twice a year. 1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester 48 Brush, to trim a hedge. 8. To beat (a covert). Also int. in verbal noun. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > hunt [verb (transitive)] > beat beata1400 to put upa1475 tuft1590 tusk1592 fowl1611 flaxa1848 brush1876 1876 Coursing Cal. 223 Our long dragging beats taking us..round the far side by Fliskoe Forest, in proximity to which the ranges were brushed, but with no good results. 1895 W. Rye Gloss. Words E. Anglia 26 Brush, to beat a covert; ‘a day's brushing with the governor’. 9. Hunting. To take the ‘brush’ from (a killed fox) as a trophy of the chase. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > [verb (transitive)] > hunt fox > take brush from brush1879 1879 Tinsley's Mag. 24 334 As they then rode in the master ‘brushed’ him [sc. a fox], while the hounds were baying. 1893 Field 11 Feb. 191/3 Some twenty minutes later he had the satisfaction of brushing his fox. 10. Painting. to brush (in): to put in with the brush, to paint in. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > paint [verb (transitive)] meteOE depaint?c1225 paintc1275 stain1519 to paint out1553 depeinct1579 limn1593 impaint1598 pencil1610 stroke1624 depencil1631 brush1897 1897 Daily News 16 Jan. 6/3 For flesh painting, the torso..is so firm, so luminous; the draperies, too, are decisively brushed in. 1901 Daily News 7 Mar. 6/6 These are vivid, quickly brushed impressions by an artist who has an eye for..Italian landscape. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹1330n.²1377n.³a1400n.⁴a1382n.⁵1941v.¹a1400v.²a1475
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