What does "flush" mean?
A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc.
Flush
/ˈflʌʃ/ adj, adv, noun, verb
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc.
- Grammar: flush is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: blush, rosiness, ablution, abounding.
- Useful contrasts: impoverished, straitened, beetling.
- Usage evidence: Tom is flush with money since he got paid today.
How to use "flush"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "flush" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- 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 "flush" 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 "flush" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "flush" 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 "flush" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb 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 "blush" 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 "flush", 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 A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc.
"As when a Faulcon hath with nimble flight / Flowne at a flush of Ducks foreby the brooke […]."
- 2 A sudden flowing; a rush which fills or overflows, as of water for cleansing purposes. countable, uncountable
"in manner of a wave or flush"
- 3 A groundwater-fed marsh or peaty mire (which may be acidic or basic, nutrient-rich or poor); (originally especially Scotland and Northern England) a (marshy) pool or seep, as in a field.
"For this point onwards the land slopes gently until it becomes quite low lying, that is, tends to become a "flush" or bog."
- 4 A hand consisting of all cards with the same suit.
- 5 sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty) wordnet
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 Particularly, such a cleansing of a toilet. countable, uncountable
- 7 a sudden rapid flow (as of water) wordnet
- 8 The process of clearing the contents of a buffer or cache. countable, uncountable
- 9 the swift release of a store of affective force wordnet
- 10 A suffusion of the face with blood, as from fear, shame, modesty, or intensity of feeling of any kind; a blush; a glow. countable, uncountable
"When I would kiss thy hand, / The flush of anger'd shame / O'erflows thy calmer glances, / And o'er black brows drops down / A sudden-curved frown: […]"
- 11 a poker hand with all 5 cards in the same suit wordnet
- 12 Any tinge of red color like that produced on the cheeks by a sudden rush of blood. countable, uncountable
"the flush on the side of a peach; the flush on the clouds at sunset"
- 13 a rosy color (especially in the cheeks) taken as a sign of good health wordnet
- 14 A sudden flood or rush of feeling; a thrill of excitement, animation, etc. countable, uncountable
"a flush of joy"
- 15 sudden brief sensation of heat (associated with menopause and some mental disorders) wordnet
- 16 A line of poles or obstacles that a skier must weave between. countable, uncountable
- 17 the period of greatest prosperity or productivity wordnet
Verb
- 1 To cause to take flight from concealment. transitive
"The dogs flushed the deer from the woods."
- 2 To cleanse by flooding with generous quantities of a fluid. transitive
"Flush the injury with plenty of water."
- 3 turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame wordnet
- 4 To take suddenly to flight, especially from cover. intransitive
"A covey of quail flushed from the undergrowth."
- 5 Particularly, to cleanse a toilet by introducing a large amount of water. transitive
Show 20 more definitions
- 6 cause to flow or flood with or as if with water wordnet
- 7 To become suffused with reddish color due to embarrassment, excitement, overheating, or other systemic disturbance, to blush. intransitive
"The damsel flushed at the scoundrel's suggestion."
- 8 cause to flow through something wordnet
- 9 To cause to blush. transitive
"Nor flush with shame the passing virgin's cheek."
- 10 irrigate with water from a sluice wordnet
- 11 To cause to be full; to flood; to overflow; to overwhelm with water.
"to flush the meadows"
- 12 rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid wordnet
- 13 To excite, inflame. transitive
"such things as can only feed his pride and flush his ambition"
- 14 make level or straight wordnet
- 15 To be cleansed by being flooded with generous quantities of water. intransitive
"There must be somebody home: I just heard the toilet flushing."
- 16 glow or cause to glow with warm color or light wordnet
- 17 To clear (a buffer or cache) of its contents. transitive
- 18 To write (the data) to primary storage, clearing it from the buffer or cache. transitive
"flush to disk"
- 19 To flow and spread suddenly; to rush.
"Blood flushes into the face."
- 20 To show red; to shine suddenly; to glow.
"In her cheek, distemper flushing glowed."
- 21 To fill in (joints); to point the level; to make them flush.
- 22 To operate a placer mine, where the continuous supply of water is insufficient, by holding back the water, and releasing it periodically in a flood. intransitive
- 23 To fill underground spaces, especially in coal mines, with material carried by water, which, after drainage, constitutes a compact mass.
- 24 To dispose or be disposed of by flushing down a toilet. intransitive, transitive
- 25 To move, shift or align to one side. Singapore
Adjective
- 1 Smooth, even, aligned; not sticking out.
"Sand down the excess until it is flush with the surface."
- 2 Wealthy or well off.
"He just got a bonus so he's flush today."
- 3 Ellipsis of flush left and right: a body of text aligned with both its left and right margins. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 4 Full of vigor; fresh; glowing; bright.
"With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May."
- 5 Affluent; abounding; well furnished or supplied; hence, liberal; prodigal.
"[H]e vvas not fluſh in Ready [i.e., ready money], either to go to Lavv or clear old Debts, neither could he find good Bail: […]"
Adjective
- 1 of a surface exactly even with an adjoining one, forming the same plane wordnet
- 2 having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Suddenly and completely. not-comparable
"I landed flush on the couch."
Adverb
- 1 squarely or solidly wordnet
- 2 in the same plane wordnet
Example
"Tom is flush with money since he got paid today."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "flush"?
Common synonyms include: blush, rosiness, ablution, abounding, abounding in riches, abundant.
How do you use "flush" in a sentence?
Tom is flush with money since he got paid today.
How do you pronounce "flush"?
Pronounced /ˈflʌʃ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English flusshen, fluschen, of uncertain origin. Compare dialectal flusk (“to fly at, startle a bird out of the bush”) and flusker (“to flutter, fly irregularly”). Perhaps related to Middle English flasshen, flasschen, flaschen, see flash; or a Middle English blend of flowen (“to flow”) + guschen (“to gush”). Compare Saterland Frisian flutskje, German Low German flutschen, German flutschen.
Etymology 2
Same as Etymology 3, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Etymology 3
Probably from Etymology 1, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
Etymology 4
Various similar terms are found in dialectal English and Scots as flash and flosh (older Scots flosche), and the variation goes back to Middle English flushe, flosche, flashe, flaske. The DSL suggests a relation between flush, English flash (“pool”), and Middle English flosche, but influence from other water-related senses of flush and flash is also conceivable.
Etymology 5
Probably from Middle French flus (“flow”), cognate with flux.