- brush
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I. noun
Etymology: Middle English brusch, from an Anglo-French form akin to Old French broce brushwood, Medieval Latin brusca
Date: 14th century
1. brushwood
2.
a. scrub vegetation
b. land covered with scrub vegetation
II. noun
Etymology: Middle English brusshe, from an Anglo-French form akin to Middle French broisse
Date: 14th century
1. a device composed of bristles typically set into a handle and used especially for sweeping, smoothing, scrubbing, or painting
2. something resembling a brush: as
a. a bushy tail
b. a feather tuft worn on a hat
3. an electrical conductor that makes sliding contact between a stationary and a moving part (as of a generator or a motor)
4.
a. an act of brushing
b. a quick light touch or momentary contact in passing
III. transitive verb
Date: 15th century
1.
a. to apply a brush to
b. to apply with a brush
2.
a. to remove with passing strokes (as of a brush)
b. to dispose of in an offhand way ; dismiss <brushed him off> 3. to pass lightly over or across ; touch gently against in passing • brusher noun IV. noun Etymology: Middle English brusche rush, hostile collision, from bruschen Date: 14th century a brief encounter or skirmish <a brush with disaster> <a brush with the law> V. intransitive verb Etymology: Middle English bruschen to rush, probably from Middle French brosser to dash through underbrush, from broce Date: 1674 to move lightly or heedlessly <brushed past the well-wishers waiting to greet him>
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
