Brush

/bɹʌʃ/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.
  • Grammar: brush is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: thicket, action, aerial combat, affray.
  • Useful contrasts: airbrush, avoid, comb.
  • Usage evidence: You'd better brush up on your English if you 're going to go to America.

How to use "brush"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "brush" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "brush" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "brush" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "brush" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "brush" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "thicket" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "brush", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    contact with something dangerous or undesirable wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of brushing something. countable, uncountable

    "She gave her hair a quick brush."

  4. 4
    the act of brushing your hair wordnet
  5. 5
    A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine. countable, uncountable
Show 19 more definitions
  1. 6
    the act of brushing your teeth wordnet
  2. 7
    A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks. countable, uncountable

    "If there was a sharp point nearby, electricity would stream from it in a luminous brush, a little corposant, and one could blow out candles with the outstreaming “electric wind,” or even get this to turn a little rotor on its pivot."

  3. 8
    a minor short-term fight wordnet
  4. 9
    Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland. uncountable

    "We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck."

  5. 10
    a bushy tail or part of a bushy tail (especially of the fox) wordnet
  6. 11
    A short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience. countable, uncountable

    "brush with death"

  7. 12
    an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle wordnet
  8. 13
    The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox. countable, uncountable

    "They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too."

  9. 14
    conducts current between rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor wordnet
  10. 15
    A tuft of hair on the mandibles. countable, uncountable
  11. 16
    momentary contact wordnet
  12. 17
    A short contest, or trial, of speed. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage (originally published in Cornhill Magazine Mark and Lord Lufton had been boys together, and his lordship knew that Mark in his heart would enjoy a brush across the country quite as well as he himself."

  13. 18
    a dense growth of bushes wordnet
  14. 19
    An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals. countable, uncountable
  15. 20
    An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture. countable, uncountable

    "Your bitmap image appears along the painted stroke. If you'd like to permanently create a custom sprite brush, it's fairly easy to adapt an existing MEL file[…]."

  16. 21
    A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality. countable, uncountable

    "to download brushes for Photoshop"

  17. 22
    In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area. countable, uncountable
  18. 23
    The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino. countable, slang, uncountable
  19. 24
    Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths. uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To clean with a brush. transitive

    "Brush your teeth."

  2. 2
    remove with or as if with a brush wordnet
  3. 3
    To untangle or arrange with a brush. transitive

    "Brush your hair."

  4. 4
    touch lightly and briefly wordnet
  5. 5
    To apply with a brush. transitive

    "I am brushing the paint onto the walls."

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    rub with a brush, or as if with a brush wordnet
  2. 7
    To remove with a sweeping motion. transitive

    "She brushed the flour off my clothes."

  3. 8
    clean with a brush wordnet
  4. 9
    To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing. ambitransitive

    "Her scarf brushed his skin."

  5. 10
    cover by brushing wordnet
  6. 11
    To clean one's teeth by brushing them. intransitive

    "Of course, Halloween does not have to be completely treatless. Plain chocolate candy is okay, provided you remember to brush afterwards."

  7. 12
    sweep across or over wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
thicketactionaerial combataffrayair brushair-dry

Example

"You'd better brush up on your English if you 're going to go to America."

Common questions

What does "brush" mean?

An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.

What is a synonym for "brush"?

Common synonyms include: thicket, action, aerial combat, affray, air brush, air-dry.

How do you use "brush" in a sentence?

You'd better brush up on your English if you 're going to go to America.

How do you pronounce "brush"?

Pronounced /bɹʌʃ/.

Etymology

From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.

More for "brush"

Synonyms

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