ˈtooth-brush
a. A small brush with a long handle, used for cleansing the teeth.
| [1651, 1751: see teeth-brush s.v. tooth n. 9 b.] 1690 Wood Life (O.H.S.) III. 319 [Bought] toothbrush [of] J. Barret. 1807 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life 236 While you are waiting..for a fresh supply of tooth-brushes. 1844 W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. ii. (1855) 35 My chattels are safe,..even to a tooth-brush. |
b. attrib., as
tooth-brush glass,
tooth-brush handle,
tooth-brush holder,
tooth-brush rack;
tooth-brush moustache (
humorous), a bristly moustache;
tooth-brush tree, a name for
Salvadora persica, from the use of its twigs for cleaning the teeth.
| 1931 H. E. L. Mellersh Salt of Earth vii. 159 Put them [sc. flowers] in the toothbrush glass or something till May can see to them. 1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. i. 30 Go get your toothbrush glasses and we'll lock the door. |
| 1886 Fenn Master Cerem. i, That peg was an old tooth-brush handle. |
| 1911 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 199/2 Combination tumbler and tooth brush holder, nickel-plated. 1979 M. Millar Murder of Miranda ii. 85 The chrome toothbrush holder was empty. |
| 1904 Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 4/4 Clothes of outlandish cut, toothbrush moustache. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 121/2 Bath bracket outfit consisting of..tumbler ring, tooth brush rack. 1969 Hurd & Osmond Smile on Face of Tiger v. 184 [He] stood leaning against the toothbrush rack, cup in hand. |
| 1891 Cent. Dict. s.v. Salvadora, S. Persica..in India furnishes kikuel-oil, and from the use of its twigs is sometimes called toothbrush-tree. |
Hence
ˈtoothbrushing vbl. n.;
ˈtoothbrushy a. nonce-wd., resembling a tooth-brush; bristly.
| 1904 ‘A. Hope’ Double Harness xiii, His toothbrushy hair had..more than usual of its suggestion of comical distress. 1920 A. Huxley Limbo 168 A foam of tooth-brushing. 1976 J. Philips Backlash (1977) ii. ii. 93 Go into the bathrooms... Time for tooth brushing. |