| 释义 |
brush
I. \ˈbrəsh\ noun
(-es)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English brusch, from Middle French broce, from Old French, perhaps of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish froech heather — more at brier
1. : brushwood
2.
a. : scrub vegetation
b. : land covered with scrub vegetation : brushland — often used with the
< helped work cattle in the Florida brush — F.B.Gipson >
3. chiefly Australia : a dense growth of forest and undergrowth
II. transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
1. : to clear (land) of brush and undergrowth
< brush the back forty >
2. : to use cut-off branches as supports for (vines and plants)
< peas should be brushed >
III. noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English brusshe, from Middle French broisse, from Old French broce brushwood
1.
a. : a hand-operated or power-driven tool or device composed of bristles set into a back or a handle or attached to a roller and designed or adapted for such uses as sweeping, scrubbing, painting, and smoothing
< a floor brush >
< a wire brush >
b. : one of a pair of long slender devices of this kind with flexible wire bristles used for making soft rhythmic hissing sounds on a cymbal or snare drun especially in a dance band
2. : something resembling or suggesting a brush
< a thick brush of wavy hair >
as
a. : a heavily haired bushy tail (as that of a fox or squirrel or of certain dogs or cats)
< the fox had a handsome red brush >
b.
(1) : an herb (Lepachys columnifera) of the western United States resembling a coneflower
(2) : the young strobile or gynoecium of the hop
(3) : a tuft of hairs (as on the tip of the wheat kernel)
(4) : the inflorescence of the broomcorn
c. : a feather tuft worn on a hat
< a cock-green Tyrolean brush in my hat — Saul Bellow >
3.
a. : an electrical conductor commonly in the form of a bundle of copper strips or wire gauze or a block of carbon serving as a means of connection by sliding contact between a stationary and a moving part of an electric circuit (as between line and armature of a generator or a motor)
b. : brush discharge
4. [brush (IV) ]
a. : an act or instance of brushing
< he gave his old suit a quick brush >
b. : a quick light touch : a fleeting momentary contact
< she felt the brush of his coat as he hurried by >
c.
(1) : a light stroke with one foot, toe, or heel along the floor in any direction in dancing
(2) : a low ballet kick in which the sole of the foot strikes the floor
d. slang : a quiet and decisive rejection or dismissal : brush-off
IV. verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English brusshen, from brusshe, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to apply a brush to or use a brush on
< she was brushing her hair >
< take the bread from the oven and brush the loaves with butter >
b. : to apply with a brush
< the paint must be brushed carefully onto the porous surface >
2.
a. : to remove with a brush or by an act similar to brushing
< brush the dust from your shoes >
< he … brushed the ash from his cigarette — Nevil Shute >
b. : to push or force especially in the course of physical motion
< two men brushed their way through the crowd >
< brush obstacles aside >
c. : to dispose of in an offhand way : dismiss or reject summarily or perfunctorily — usually used with aside, away, or off
< impatiently brushed aside the thought — Kathleen Freeman >
< brushed our thanks away — Thomas Wood †1950 >
< asked a polite question but was brushed off >
3.
a. : to pass lightly over or across : touch gently against in passing
< my left hand brushed the wall and found the doorknob — Hartley Howard >
b. : affect, touch
< the spirit of compromise which responsibility brings has not brushed him — Time >
4. : to beat (fibers) lightly to cause fraying or roughening rather than cutting in papermaking
5. dialect chiefly England : trim, clip
< brushing the shrubbery >
intransitive verb
1. : to make the contact or motion or perform the action of brushing something
< other stewards and messmen were scouring, scrubbing, brushing, mopping — Nation's Business >
2. of a horse : to interfere slightly so as to produce abrasion
V. adjective
Etymology: brush (III)
: resembling a brush especially in being bristly or cut relatively short and of even length
< a brush haircut >
< a brush mustache >
VI. verb
(-ed/-ing/-es)
Etymology: Middle English bruschen to rush, drive (influenced in meaning by 3& brush) (IV), from Middle French brosser to dash through underbrush, from broce, brosse, broisse underbrush
intransitive verb
: to move so lightly or deftly as to be scarcely perceptible : move so as to graze, skim over, or sweep something
< brush past people quickly without hitting them carelessly with your umbrella — Agnes M. Miall >
transitive verb
: to force (a horse) to top speed over a short distance
VII. noun
(-es)
Etymology: Middle English brusche rush, hostile collision (influenced in meaning by 3& brush) (IV), from bruschen to rush, drive
1. : a brief or fleeting encounter; usually : one that involves an element of risk or contention
< he had several brushes with the law >
< a brush with enemy troops >
2. : a usually short often impromptu race
< the horses came even and their riders decided to have a brush > |