▪ I. brush, n.1
(brʌʃ)
Forms: 5 brusche, 6 brushe, 6– brush.
[ME. brusche, a. OF. brosse, broce, broche brushwood (whence mod.F. broussailles: see brushal). Diez cites Pr. brossa, Sp. broza, It. brustia, brushwood. Du Cange has med.L. bruscia, brocia, brossia, brozia, brucia, all in same sense. Diez takes the late L. type as *brustia, and refers it to OHG. burst, bursta bristle; cf. MHG. bürste brush. If his conjectures are correct, brosse ‘brush’ and brosse ‘brushwood’ were originally identical; but as their history in English shows no contact, it appears better here to treat them apart: see brush n.2]
1. a. Loppings of trees or hedges; cut brushwood (now in U.S.). b. A fagot or bavin of such brushwood. (Cf. brash n.2)
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (Rolls Ser.) 8338 Þey comaunded to al men lyk Wiþ brusch to come, & fylle þe dyk. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 54 Brusche, bruscus. 1530 Palsgr. 201/2 Brushe to make brushes on, brvyère. 1655 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. xiii. 218/2 One sin helps to kindle another; the less the greater, as the brush the loggs. 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Brush, a small Faggot, to light the other at Taverns. 1732 De Foe Tour Gt. Brit. I. 138 (D.) Small light bavins..are called in the taverns a Brush. 1830 in W. Cobbet Rur. Rides (1885) II. 298 [To] supply the farm with poles and brush, and with everything wanted in the way of fuel. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. iii. ii. (1849) 86 The two boys would be found serviceable, either in collecting the brush, or in burning off the logs. 1860 Bartlett, Brush, for brushwood, is an Americanism, and..comprises also branches of trees. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. (E.D.S.), Brush, dried furze used for fires. |
2. The small growing trees or shrubs of a wood; a thicket of small trees or underwood. (Esp. in
U.S., Canada, and Australia.)
| c 1440–1530 [see sense 1]. 1553 Brende Q. Curtius P j, The inhabiters of the contrey were accustumed to creape emonges the brushe like wild beastes. 1613 Sylvester Elegie Sir W. Sidney, Brush and Bryars (good for nought at all). 1702 Eng. Theophrast. 374 You shall never have clean underwood, but shrubs and brushes. 1766 C. Beatty Two Months' Tour (1768) 35 Grown up..with small brush, or under-wood. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Sir J. Banks & Emp. Morocco, Mindless of trees, and brushes, and the brambles. 1791 in Amer. Speech XV. 161/2 To a white Oak & red Oak near a hollow in the Edge of Brush. 1801 Massachusetts Spy 23 Dec. 3/4 The imprudence of a person who set on fire a quantity of brush, &c. near Cambridge. 1820 J. Oxley N.S. Wales, The timber standing at wide intervals, without any brush or undergrowth. Ibid. These plains or brushes are swamps in wet weather. 1887 I. R. Ranche Life Montana 8 The bright red of the brush by the river-side. |
† 3. Stubble.
Obs. or
dial.| 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 343 They sowe wheat again, upon the brush (as they call it) i.e. upon the peas stubble. 1790 Marshall Midl. Counties II. Gloss., Brush, stubble; as a wheat-brush. |
4. Comb., as
brush-fagot,
brush-heap,
brush house,
brush-pile,
brush stable,
brush tent,
brush whisky U.S.; also
brush-apple, ‘the native Australian wood of
Achras australis’ (
Treas. Bot.);
† brush-bill, a bill for cutting brushwood;
brush-bush, a shrub (
Eucryphia pinnata) having pinnate leaves and single white flowers;
brush-cherry, ‘the native Australian wood of
Trochocarpa laurina’ (
Treas. Bot.);
brush-fire orig. U.S., a fire in brush; also
transf.;
attrib., (of a war) arising suddenly and limited in scale or area;
brush-kangaroo, a species of kangaroo inhabiting the Australian ‘brush’;
brush-puller, a machine for pulling up brushwood by the roots;
brush-scythe, a scythe or sickle on a shaft for cutting brushwood;
brush-turkey, an Australian bird (
Talegalla Lathami);
brush-turnip (see
quot.);
brush wallaby Austral., several species of the genus
Wallabia,
esp. W. rufogrisea, found
esp. in coastal brushes.
| 1588 R. Parke tr. Mendoza's China 65 Pikes, targets, faunchers, *brushebilles, holbards. |
| 1606 Sir G. Goosecappe iii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 44 She had as lieve be courted with a *brush faggot as with a Frenchman. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. 230 The fire-wood was most of it..brush-faggots out of a wood, and but few of the small bush-faggots. |
| 1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-yah xix. 238 The spiral smoke..rose from the *brushfire. 1947 Chicago Daily News 15 May 1/3 The family outcast is stirring up a brush fire of liberal resentment against the Truman administration. 1955 Times 14 May 7/5 He opposed any reduction in manpower because of the risk of ‘brush fire’ wars. |
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1861) 141 He was a perfect *brush-heap in a blaze. |
| 1854 B. Young in Jrnl. Discourses I. 166 Families went there and lived in wagons and *brush houses. |
| 1830 Proc. R. Geog. Soc. I. 29 These dogs..are particularly useful in catching the bandicoots, the small *brush kangaroo, and the opossum. |
| 1865 Mrs. Whitney Gayworthys II. 257 The very chickens run under the fences and the *brushpile. |
| 1573 Tusser Husb. xvii. (1878) 37 A *brush sithe and grasse sithe. |
| 1835 Southern Lit. Messenger I. 581 The pony..moves homeward with accelerated velocity, leaping every obstacle in his way to his *brush stable. |
| 1862 Harper's Mag. June 16/1 In the yard..were several chapadens or *brush-tents in which whisky, gin,..and other refreshments..were for sale. 1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xix. 310 John A. Lee..had his wife living there in a sort of brush tent. |
| 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 110 To sow..*brush turnips, which are not expected to produce any roots, but in the months of March and April afford an excellent food for ewes and lambs. |
| 1847 Carpenter Zool. §435 Termed..the *Brush Turkey, on account of the wattles with which its neck is furnished. 1852 W. J. Broderip Note-bk. of Nat. 139 The brush-turkey belongs to a family of birds..which never incubate, but..leave their eggs to the genial warmth of this half-natural, half artificial mother. |
| [1841 G. R. Waterhouse Marsupialia 221 The Walabee of New South Wales somewhat resembles the Brush Kangaroo of Van Diemen's Land.] 1896 F. G. Aflalo Nat. Hist. Australia ii. 40 Into the specific descriptions of the rock, swamp, *brush, scrub and other *wallabies I shall not enter. 1926 Le Souef & Burrell Wild Animals of Australasia 189 The red-necked wallaby commonly known as the scrub and in places as the brush wallaby, is found in the drier forest country of Eastern Australia. 1966 V. Serventy Continent in Danger iii. 66 The fleetness of foot of these brush wallabies led them to be hunted for sport. |
| 1885 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Gt. Smoky Mts. xv. 275 The constable's heart was warmed by the *brush whiskey. 1913 M. W. Morley Carolina Mts. 66 That important beverage, variously known as..‘blockade’, ‘brush whiskey’, and..‘corn whiskey’. |
▪ II. brush, n.2 (
brʌʃ)
Forms: 4–6
brusshe, 5
brusch(e, 7
brish, 6–
brush.
[ME. brusshe, a. OF. brosse, broisse, identified by most French etymologists with brosse brushwood (see brush n.1), the sense being supposed to be derived through that of ‘bunch of broom or other shrub used to sweep away dust’: cf. broom. But the history of the French words has not been satisfactorily made out: cf. MHG. bürste fem. ‘brush’, from borste bristle, and see Diez, Littré, Scheler, Brachet.] I. 1. a. A utensil consisting of a piece of wood or other suitable material, set with small tufts or bunches of bristles, hair, or the like, for sweeping or scrubbing dust and dirt from a surface; and generally any utensil for brushing or sweeping.
Brushes are of many shapes and of various materials according to use; instead of bristles there may be slender wires, vegetable fibres, feathers, etc. They are named according to their use, as
clothes-brush,
hat-brush,
shoe-brush,
blacking-brush,
hair-brush,
nail-brush,
tooth-brush, etc. A
hard brush has stiff bristles; a
soft brush fine and flexible bristles. The
chimney-sweep's brush and
dust brush pass into a
besom.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 460 Whi he ne hadde wasshen it [a coat] or wyped it with a brusshe. 1485 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts. 369 Unum brusshe, 2d. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 115 Olde men brusshed theyr dustye clothes with cowe tayles: as we do with hear brusshes. 1530 Palsgr. 182 Vnes decrottoyres, a rubbynge brusshe to make clene clothes with. a 1598 Hakluyt Voy. I. 363 (R.), 100 brushes for garments (none made of swine haire). 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. v, Move the cluster [of bees] gently with your brush, and drive them in. The Brush is a handfull of Rosemary, Hyssop, Fennell, or other herbes; of Hazell, Withie, Plum-tree, or other boughs; or rather of boughes with hearbs, bound taper-wise together. 1619 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials III. 478 Ane kame-caise, with ane brusch, with certane other necessaris. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 5 ¶11 If a coat be spotted, a lady has a brush. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xvii. 275 You want a hard brush to brush sunlight off a wall. |
b. One of a pair of thin sticks set with long wire bristles with which to make a soft hissing sound on drums, cymbals, etc.; in full
wire brush.
| 1927 [implied at brush-work, sense 12 below]. 1955 in M. Stearns Story of Jazz (1957) xxiii. 288 Snare drum, sticks, brushes, [etc.]. 1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. 11 Brushes, wire brushes used to play the drums. |
2. a. An instrument consisting of a bunch of hairs attached to a straight handle, for applying moisture to a surface, moist colours in painting, colouring, and similar purposes.
These also vary greatly in size, from a small brush composed of a few fine elastic hairs of the sable, etc. fixed in a fine quill, to the large and coarse brushes of the house painter or plasterer (some of which have the hairs in distinct bunches).
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 46 A Brusch for paynterys, celeps. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 249 Brishes, of three sorts, viz. A Stock Brish, a Round Brish, and a Pencil. With these Brishes, they wet old Walls before they mend them. 1703 Art's Improv. I. 63 Take a fine Hogs-Hair-Brush; with this, job and beat over your Work gently, that the Gold may be pressed in close. 1792 Gentl. Mag. Apr. 328 Rub it over all the joints..with a painter's brush. 1804 Huddesford Wiccam. Chaplet 136 No painter that's living can handle a brush! 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 295 Brushes of brown sable are generally made by the insertion of the hair into quills; hence the size of the brush is recognised by the various names of the birds which supply the quills employed—as eagle, swan (of various sizes), goose, duck, and crow. Ibid. The smaller kinds of brushes are still sometimes termed ‘pencils’. |
b. The painter's art or professional skill.
brother of the brush: artist.
| 1687 Bp. Cartwright in Hist. Magd. Coll. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) 143 Pray make use of my Brother of the Brush. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy (1793) I. 133 The honourable devices which the Pentagraphic Bretheren of the brush have shewn in taking copies. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Subj. for Paint. Wks. 1812 II. 136 The world ne'er said nor thought it of thy Brush. 1833 Byron's Wks. (1846) 585/1 A young American brother of the brush. 1836 Praed Poems, Sk. Yng. Lady, If I to-morrow Could manage just for half-an-hour Sir Joshua's brush to borrow. Mod. There is another picture from the same brush. |
3. Any brush-like bunch or tuft.
a. generally.
| 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 258 b, Thys vayne⁓glorious proud pecocke is bedeckt with..glittering plumes, wrapt up together in a great brush. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 473 Equisetum arvense..the barren stem terminates in an abrupt brush of branches. |
b. The bushy tail, or bushy part of the tail, of an animal;
spec. that of the fox.
| 1675 [see 10]. 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Brush..a Fox's Tail. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 145 His Brush he drags, And sweeps the Mire impure. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. II. 190 His [the fox's] tail is called his brush or drag. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 317 The squirrel, flippant..whisks his brush. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. cxxxix. 114 If the landed interest took the same courses in fox-hunting, it would be easy to foretell how many brushes they would bring home. 1883 J. Mackenzie Day-dawn in Dark Pl. 162, I tied the brush of the tail [of the gemsbuck] to Blue⁓buck's saddle. |
4. Entom. A brush-like organ on the legs of bees and other insects.
| 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 201 Tarsi short, with no brush beneath. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. 208 The legs of the Bee..have the first joint of the tarsus dilated..Its inner surface is provided with several rows of stiff hairs placed transversely, which gives to this part the name of the ‘brush’. |
5. metallic brush: ‘a bundle of fine wires fixed in an insulating handle. Used for faradisation of less sensitive parts in anæsthetic conditions’ (
Syd. Soc. Lex.); also a wire hair-brush.
6. Electricity.
a. A brush-like discharge of sparks.
b. A piece of metal terminating in metallic wires, or strips of flexible metal, used for securing good metallic connexion between two portions of an electrical instrument.
| 1789 Nicholson in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 275 When the intensity was greatest, brushes, of a different kind from the former, appeared. 1803 Med. & Phys. Jrnl. IX. 390 Somewhat like a little brush deflagration. 1842 W. Grove Corr. Phys. Forces (ed. 6) 75 The electric spark, the brush, and similar phenomena. c 1865 J. Wylde in Circ. Sc. I. 174/2 When any pointed object is presented to an electrised surface, the spark..becomes converted into a brush-like form; hence the term ‘electric brush’. 1883 Knowledge 13 July 24/2 One of the brushes of the commutator presses the insulating piece. |
7. Optics. Bright or dark figures accompanying certain phenomena observed in polarized light, which by their shaded and ill-defined edges combined with variations of breadth suggest the idea of brushes.
| 1817–45 Herschel Light in Encycl. Metrop. 559. 1857 Lloyd Wave Theory Light 193 The dark brushes, which cross the entire system of rings. Ibid. 122 Haidinger brushes..two brushes, of a pale orange-yellow colour, the axis of which coincides always with the track of the plane of polarization. 1878 Gurney Crystallog. 111 In certain adjustments of the polariscope..two dark brushes run across the rings. |
II. from
brush v.
2 8. a. A brushing; an application of a brush.
| 1822 Scott Nigel xxxvii, He..gives his beaver a brush, and cocks it in the face of all creation. Mod. Give your hair a brush. |
b. Short for
brush-off (see
brush v.
2 5 b). So
brusheroo [
-eroo].
| 1941 in Amer. Speech (1942) XVII. 12/1 That's why I'm getting the brusheroo. 1947 B. Schulberg Harder they Fall i. 27 The ones who had already made up their minds almost always got the brush. 1953 ‘S. Ransome’ Drag the Dark (1954) ii. 25 So far I had found no chance to give Goodlee the brush. 1962 E. Lacy Freeloaders viii. 175, I told Daniele what a crawling punk her boyfriend was, and she gave him the brush. |
9. A graze,
esp. on a horse's leg. (
cf. brush v.
2 6.)
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4649/4 A Grey Gelding..having..a Brush in the right Hip. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 10. simple attrib. Brush-like.
| 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1044/4 A dark brown Nag..a brush tail, if not cut since stolen. 1703 Ibid. No. 3895/4 Lost..a large liver-colour'd and white Spaniel, with a brush Tail. 1711 Ibid. No. 4900/4 A whisk Tail and brush Mane. |
11. General relations:
a. attributive, as
brush-drop,
brush-play,
brush-power,
brush-stroke;
b. objective, as
brush-maker,
brush-manufacturer;
c. similative and parasynthetic, as
brush-form,
brush-like,
brush-shaped,
brush-tailed.
| 1878 Symonds Sonn. M. Angelo v, A rich Embroidery Bedews my face from *brush-drops thick and thin. |
| 1872 Watts Dict. Chem. II. 402 Electric discharge, especially in the *brush-form, frequently takes place in curves. |
| 1859 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. V. 478/2 This end of the hair is..more or less ragged and *brush-like. |
| 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4538/4 Joseph Wheeler, *Brushmaker by Trade. |
| 1812 Examiner 12 Oct. 650/2 W. Jones..*brush manufacturer. |
| 1884 St. James's Gaz. 24 Jan. 6/2 An appearance of fusion obtained by a delicate dexterity of *brush-play [in painting]. |
| 1885 Pall Mall G. 10 Mar. 4/2 His *brush-power was not more remarkable than his vision. |
| 1880 Gray Bot. Text-bk. 400 *Brush-shaped..made up of numerous spreading hairs, etc. in a tuft, as the stigmas of Grasses. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 17 Nov. 3/1 [Gainsborough's] *brush-strokes are scarcely due to separate acts of volition. 1963 Times 17 Jan. 4/4 The canvas becomes a web of shimmering, delicate brushstrokes. |
| 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xxi. 258 Four or five brace of tall *brush-tailed greyhounds. |
12. Special combs.:
brush borer = brush driller;
brush-burn, an inflammation or sore caused by violent friction;
brush-colour (see
quot.);
brush discharge Electr. = brush n.2 6 a;
brush drawer, an operative who puts in the bristles in ‘drawn brushes’;
brush driller, an operative who drills the holes in the stocks of brushes and brooms;
brush-gold (
Painting), gold pigment for applying with a brush;
brush-grain, a grain produced in painting woodwork by drawing the brush over a wet coat of paint so that the under-coat is seen through the brush-marks;
brush-grass,
Andropogon Gryllus;
brush-hat (see
quot.);
brush-holder (see
quot. 1904);
brush-iron-ore,
brush-ore, an iron ore found in the Forest of Dean (see
quots.);
brush-pencil, an artist's colour brush;
brush-tail(ed) porcupine (see
quot. 1885);
brush-tea (see
quot.);
brush-tongued a., having a tongue tipped with a brush-like cluster of filaments;
brush-varnish (see
quot.);
brushware, goods consisting of all kinds of brushes;
brush-wheel, (
a) a kind of friction-wheel which turns another similar wheel by means of bristles, cloth, leather, etc., fixed on their circumferences; (
b) a circular revolving brush used for polishing, etc.;
brush-work, (
a) painting, as distinguished from drawing;
spec. the characteristic method (of a painter) of laying on the colours; (
b) the use of the wire brush on percussion instruments.
| 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §688 *Brush borer. |
| 1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 130 Floor-cloth manufacture... A second coating of paint is laid on..wholly with a brush... Hence it is called the ‘*brush-colour’, to distinguish it from the first or ‘trowel-colour’. |
| 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 42 The difference between the *brush discharge and the spark is, that in the former discharge begins at the root [etc.]. 1923 Popular Wireless 13 Oct. 11 Brush discharge, a discharge of high-tension electricity, which takes the form of a luminous glow. |
| 1900 Daily News 6 Nov. 9/1 *Brush drawer. |
| 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §688 *Brush driller. |
| 1861 Reade Cloister & H. I. 13 Margaret Van Eyck gave him a little *brush-gold, and some vermilion. |
| 1901 N. & Q. 9th Ser. VIII. 310/1 In the painting of wood⁓work, when the second coat, say of vermilion, is made to show through the third, say of brown, by passing the brush over it while the last coat is still wet, the result is spoken of as ‘*brush-grain’. 1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 21 Brush grain, a fine grain produced by the action of abrasive brushes. |
| 1633 Gerard Herbal i. xxii, *Brushgrasse. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Brush-hat, one in which the surface is continually brushed by a hand⁓brush, during the process of sizing. |
| 1894 W. P. Maycock Electric Lighting (ed. 2) i. vi. §114. 179 Construction of *Brush-holders. 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 72/1 Brush Holder, the support or frame carrying the copper (or carbon) strips by which the current enters or leaves a motor or dynamo. |
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. (1723) 197 Minera ferri Stalactica..called *Brush-Iron-Ore. |
| 1678 Phil. Trans. XII. 932 The Iron-Ore..is found in great abundance..The best, which they call their *Brush-Ore, is of a Blewish colour. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metals I. 33 A curious stalactite, rich in iron, and termed brush ore, from its being found hanging from the tops of caverns in striæ resembling a brush. |
| 1703 Art's Improv. I. 41 With a *Brush-Pencil, Marble the thing you would Varnish. |
| 1962 Times 20 Dec. 9/7 The Borneo *Brushtail Porcupine. |
| 1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 518/2 The second genus of Old-World porcupines is Atherura, the *Brush-tailed Porcupines,..with long tails tipped with bundles of peculiar flattened spines. 1953 G. Durrell Overloaded Ark iv. 84 A Brush-tailed Porcupine..about the size of a cat... He was mostly black in colour. |
| 1813 Milburn Orient. Comm. II. 525 *Brush Tea—so called from the leaves being twisted into small cords like pack-thread, about 1 ½ to 2 inches long. |
| 1880 St. James's Budget 17 Sept. 12/2 Regions where humming-birds and *brush-tongued lories abound. |
| 1875 T. Seaton Fret Cutting 31 Should you wish to varnish the work that has been fret cut or carved, you must do it with *brush-varnish, made with spirits of wine..laid on with a camel-hair brush. |
| 1923 Glasgow Herald 9 July 9 *Brushware and pottery. 1960 Times 13 Jan. 17/4 Manufacture of household and toilet brushware is generally highly mechanized. |
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 548 Wheels..made to turn each other by means of bristles fixed in their circumference; these are called *brush wheels. |
| 1868 Illust. Lond. News 11 Apr., There is no obtrusively pretentious *brushwork nor garish colouring. |
| 1886 Encycl. Brit. XX. 218/2 Works..wanting in the trenchant brush⁓work..of subsequent productions. 1893 Daily News 8 Apr. 3/6 The brush work of this incomparable painter. 1927 Melody Maker Aug. 807/3 In this article I have discussed brush-work in conjunction with the side drum stick. 1935 Discovery Sept. 261/1 Flaws in the brushwork of the eyelids. |
Add:
[I.] [1.] c. In
colloq. phr. as
daft (mad, etc.) as a brush, quite daft or mad; crazy.
| 1945 H. Williamson Life in Devon Village 12 ‘Mazed as a brish,’ declared Mrs. ‘Revvy’... ‘I reckon he's not all there.’ 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry xiv. 129 ‘As daft as a brush’ (which flops, unable to stand upright). 1980 J. O'Faolain No Country for Young Men vi. 136 She's as mad as a brush. Thinks she's privy to secrets of national importance. |
▪ III. brush, n.3 (
brʌʃ)
In 5
broush,
Sc. brwhs, 6
brous, 5–6
brusche.
[? f. brush v.1] 1. a. A forcible rush, a hostile collision or encounter; in later use, chiefly a short but smart encounter.
| a 1400 Alexander 783 With slik a brout & a brusche [Dubl. MS. broush] þe bataill a-sembild. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xvi. 120 Than thai layid on dwyhs for dwyhs [= dush], Mony a rap and mony a brwhs. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 51 The lansis and grit speiris with [thair] force, Maid sic ane brusche vpone the bardit horss. Ibid. III. 186 The feildis baith togidder thair did june, With sic ane brous quhill mony speris brak. a 1600 Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. xx. 31 His courage was flush, he'd venture a brush. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. iii. 34 Tempt not yet the brushes of the warre. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1869) 312 Let us go and have t' other Brush with them. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay iv, I became a scientific pugilist, and now and then took a brush with an oldster. 1860 Kingsley Misc. I. 18 A smart brush with the Spaniards. |
b. Hence
at a brush,
at the first brush,
† to stand brush;
at or after the first brush: at or after the first encounter or meeting.
| a 1400 Alexander 2133 (Dubl. MS.) Þe folke of þe cite..barred bremely at a brush þe foure brod ȝates. 1756 R. Symmer in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 460 IV. 378 The French will not carry the place at a brush. 1795 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Pindariana Wks. 1812 IV. 73 Love will stand brush against all wind and weather. 1815 Scott Guy M. lii, So you intend to give up this poor young fellow at the first brush? 1857 Hughes Tom Brown ii. ii, The people were..civil to you if you were civil to them, after the first brush. |
c. A rapid run or race; a contest in speed.
dial. and
U.S.| 1841 Spirit of Times 16 Oct. 390/3 The third mile was a ‘brush’ throughout. 1860 Trollope Framley P. xiv, Mark..would enjoy a brush across the country quite as well as he himself. a 1867 H. Woodruff Trotting Horse of Amer. (1868) ix. 105 He may have a couple of brushes of a quarter of a mile each. 1906 N.Y. Even. Post 16 June, Apart from the annual regatta, there are endless minor ‘brushes’ for the ‘fresh-water sailormen’. |
2. fig. Cf. ‘rub’.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. iii. 3 Salsbury..who in rage forgets Aged contusions, and all brush of Time. 1676 Hale Contempl. i. (1689) 161 Though an humble man may upon the very score of his humility and meekness, receive a brush in the world. 1800 Wellington Let. in Gurw. Disp. I. 121, I have given them a brush through Colonel Pater, and have informed him that the system has not been hitherto approved. |
3. ? A slight attack of illness. (
Cf. brash.)
| 1733 Swift's Corr. II. 717, I [Dr. Sheridan] hope nothing ails her but a brush. |
▪ IV. † brush, n.4 Obs. A variant of
bruchus,
bruke.
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxxiii. 4 Gederede togidere shul be ȝoure spoiles, as is gedered brush [1388 bruke]. |
▪ V. brush, n.5 Austral. and
N.Z. slang. (
brʌʃ)
[Of uncertain origin.] A girl, a young woman;
freq. derog. Also
collect.| 1941 in Baker Dict. Austral. Slang. 1945 F. Sargeson When Wind Blows vii. 55, I don't go looking for trouble with brushes that are under age. 1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 200 What comes along but an Iti bint, a real grouse brush she was. 1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned iii. 26 To him all girls were collectively ‘the brush’. 1960 N. Hilliard Maori Girl iii. ix. 239 It's the good-looking brush that give a man all the trouble. |
▪ VI. brush, v.1 (
brʌʃ)
Also 4–5
brusche(n, 5
brusshe.
[Perh. identical with F. brosser intr. ‘to dash through dense underwood’, said of a stag or a hunter, which Littré separates from brosser trans. ‘to brush’, and refers immediately to brosse ‘brushwood’. But it is possible that the Eng. word is onomatopœic, or that onomatopœia has affected its use: cf. rush and br- words like brast (burst), break, bruise. In modern use, also affected by brush v.2, esp. in sense 4.] † 1. intr. To rush with force or speed, usually into collision.
Obs. exc. as influenced by
brush v.
2: see
quot. 1863 in 4.
| a 1400 Alexander 963 And he halis furth on hede..Brusches doune by þe berne & bitterly wepis. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3681 Than brothely they bekyre with boustouse tacle, Bruschese boldlye one burde. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1192 Bothe batels on bent brusshet to-gedur. Ibid. 10969 Pantasilia..brusshet into batell. 1513 Douglas æneis x. xiv. 192 Furth bruschit the sawle with gret stremys of blude. 1647 W. Browne Polex. i. 78 For feare to brush at the iniquity of men, betray ye the cause of the gods? a 1650 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 388 His eares brushed out of blood. |
2. † a. trans. To force, or drive with a rush.
Obs.| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xiii. 93 (Jam.) Wpe he stwrly bruschyd the dure, And laid it flatlyngis in the flure. a 1460 Play Sacrament 649 Brushe them hens bothe & that anon. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 28 Blud fra byrneis was bruschyt on the greyn. |
b. To force on (
fig.); to drive hard.
U.S.| 1755 Connecticut Gaz. 29 Nov. (Schele de Vere), As tending to beget ill will, and brushing a disunion in the several governments in America. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie x I have at this moment a dog brushing a deer. a 1867 H. Woodruff Trotting Horse of Amer. (1868) v. 70 Eight or ten days prior to the race..brush him a half mile. 1904 N.Y. Times 28 Nov. 5 The drivers..spent a couple of hours before dusk brushing their fast steppers on the upper stretch. |
3. intr. To burst away with a rush, move off abruptly, be gone, decamp, make off.
| 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Brush, to Fly or Run away. 1718 Prior Poems 63 Off they brush'd, both Foot and Horse. 1728 Vanbrugh & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i. 48, I believe I had as good brush off. 1730 Fielding Author's Farce i. vii, Come, Sir, will you please to brush? 1820 Byron Morg. Mag. lxv, He brush'd apace On to the abbey. 1833 H. Martineau Berkeley the B. i. viii. 154 Enoch brushed out of the door. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg. (1877) 204 And one Sergeant Matcham had brush'd with the dibs. |
¶ . Blending this with
brush v.
2 4. intr. To move briskly
by,
through, or
against anything, grazing it or sweeping it aside in passing.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 143 To brush through many atoms of room. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 536 ¶1 A pretty young thing..brushing by me. 1713 Guardian No. 163 (1756) II. 316 The servants..begin to brush very familiarly by me. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 13 Often brushing through the dripping grass. a 1845 Hood 2 Peacocks of Belf. ii, They brush between the Churchyard's humble walls. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola iii. xxv, He brushed against a man whose face he had not stayed to recognise. 1885 Browning Ferishtah 9 Where dogs brush by thee and express contempt. |
▪ VII. brush, v.2 (
brʌʃ)
Also 5
brusche, 5–6
brusshe,
brushe, 7
brish.
[f. brush n.2; or ad. F. brosser, similarly formed from brosse.] 1. a. trans. To pass a brush briskly across (a surface), so as to sweep off dirt, dust, or light particles, or to smooth the surface; as to brush a coat, a hat, one's hair, a person (
i.e. his clothes or hair).
| c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture in Babees Bk. (1868) 180 To brusche þem [robes] clenly. 1577 Hellowes Gueuara's Ep. 162 To brushe, and lay vp their apparel. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. ii. 41 A brushes his hat a mornings. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 204 Brush and cleanse them from the Dust. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. 160 He served the Squire, and brushed the coat he made. 1812 J. & H. Smith Rej. Addr. ii. (1873) 12 Molly..brushed it with a broom. 1837 Marryat Olla Podr. xxxii, The children could not be brushed, for the brushes were in the..bag. Mod. The nurse brushes the children's hair. ‘They were washing and brushing themselves in the inn.’ |
† b. fig. To thrash:
esp. in
to brush one's coat for him.
Obs. (
Cf. to dust one's jacket.)
| 1665 Surv. Aff. Netherl. 61 Colonel Balfour, and his English, having brushed the Spaniards, the States capitulated. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 209 They had their Coats soundly brushed by them. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) ii, Converro, to beat one, to brush his coat for him. |
c. with
compl., as
to brush (a thing) clean, etc.,
to brush down, etc.
| 1839 Dickens Nich. Nick. iv, His hair..was brushed stiffly up from a low, protruding forehead. 1858 Glenny Gard. Everyday Bk. 279 Sweeping away all dead leaves, and frequently brushing down the shelves. 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 70 His broad hands smoothed her head, as fain to brush it free From fancies. |
d. absol. Also
to brush away: see
away 7.
| 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & S. iv. She showed it by brushing away viciously at Margaret's hair. Mod. You brush too hard! |
2. to brush up: to brighten up by brushing, to free from dust or cobwebs, to furbish up, rub up, renovate; also
fig. to revive or refresh one's acquaintance with anything. (Pope associates this with using a brush in painting, but perhaps only by a word-play.) Also
absol. (
rare) and
intr.| a 1600 A. Scott Eagle & Robin in Ever Green (1761) I. 233 Proud Pecocks..Bruscht up thair Pens that solemn Day. 1605 Chapman, etc. in Shaks. C. Praise 69 You should brushe vp my old Mistresse. a 1744 Pope (J.) You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbours. 1788 Ld. Sheffield in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1861) II. 220 Nickolls..was happy in brushing up his acquaintance with you. 1811 London Pract. Midwifery (ed. 3) vi. 140 The practitioner should always be cheerful... Whenever he perceives his patient looking at him, he should brush up, and appear as cheerful as he can. 1818 Keats Let. 27 Apr. (1958) I. 275 Don't you think I am brushing up in the letter way? 1832 H. Martineau Each & All i. 5 She must brush up her French. 1835 Dickens Lett. (1965) I. 66, I felt rather tired this morning when I got up; but as I did not do so until past eleven, I soon brushed up again. 1840 Knickerbocker XVI. 162, I thought I must brush up for the occasion. 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre x, I brushed up my recollections of the map of England. 1903 Dial 1 Sept. (Advt.), If you wish to brush up on your English, you will find nothing better. 1904 Hartford Courant 5 Oct. 8 The ex-governor must brush up a bit on his ecclesiastical studies. |
Hence
brush-up, the action or process of ‘brushing up’.
| 1897 E. Terry Let. 3 July in Ellen Terry & Bernard Shaw (1931) 224 She looked quite nice when she'd had a nice ‘wash and a brush up’. 1912 [see wash n. 1 b]. 1951 A. Christie They came to Baghdad xix. 192, I left her to have a wash and brush up. 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 127 If your knowledge is hazy, rusty, in need of a brush-up. |
3. to brush (a thing) over: to paint or wet its surface with a brush; to paint lightly; also
fig.| 1628 Earle Microcosm. xxxiii. 72 Practise him a little in men, and brush him over with good company. 1677 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 249 They finish the Plastering..by..brishing it over with fair Water. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 9 It is just brushed over for the lights and shades. 1799 G. Smith Laboratory I. 39 Brush them over with brandy. |
4. a. To rub softly as with a brush in passing; to graze lightly or quickly, as in passing.
| 1647 H. More Cupid's Confl. xxiii. 171 My mightie wings high stretch'd..I brush the starres. 1698 Dryden æneid iv. 839 And brush the liquid Seas with lab'ring Oars. 1725 Pope Odyss. ix. 569 It almost brush'd the helm. 1790 A. Wilson Morning, To spurn dull sleep and brush the flowery dale. 1850 Blackie æschylus I. 31 Light with swift foot she brushed the doorstead. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 270 Light Zephyrus even-breathing Brushes a sleeping sea. |
| fig. 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 94 [They] have been brushed rather rudely by the hand of time. |
b. intr. To come lightly
against with the impact of a brush.
| 1649 Selden Laws Eng. i. lix. (1739) 111 He became so great, that his Feathers brushed against the Kings Crown. |
† c. trans. To draw or pass (anything) lightly like a brush
over (something).
Obs. rare.
| a 1700 Dryden (J.) A thousand nights have brush'd their balmy wings Over these eyes. |
5. a. To remove (dust, etc.) with a brush, to sweep (away). Also
transf. and
fig. To sweep away as with a brush, to carry off lightly in passing. (Usually with
advb. or
prep. adjunct.)
| c 1631 Milton Arcades xv. 48 From the boughs brush off the evil dew. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 15 The Cows and Goats..That..brush the Dew. 1813 Byron Giaour (Orig. Draft) ii, If..the transient breeze..brush one blossom from the trees. 1814 Southey Roderick xvi, She brush'd away the dews. 1835 Marryat Jacob Faithf. xxxix, Tom passed the back of his hand across his eyes to brush away a tear. 1860 Holland Miss Gilbert ii. 41 Brushing tears from his eyes. 1884 Manch. Exam. 26 Nov. 5/1 It is surely high time to brush this nonsense away. 1886 Manch. Exam. 8 Jan. 6/1 Brushing the snow and slush into little mounds. |
b. to brush off:
fig., to rebuff, dismiss (a person, etc.). So
brush-off, a rebuff, dismissal.
orig. U.S.| 1941 J. R. Parker Attorneys at Law i. 10 I'd have given my eye teeth to hear Forbes getting the brush-off. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? vi. 132 Since Sammy was waiting for Julian the chances are he'd only brush me off. 1943 Lewis Browne See What I Mean? i. 8 No matter where I turned, I was given the brush-off. 1944 Amer. Speech XIX. 310/2 The organizer of a Brush-off-club ‘made up of mournful soldiers who were given the hemlock cup by femmes back home’. 1947 J. Steinbeck Wayward Bus 71 Casual kindness in a man she had found to be the preliminary to a brush-off. 1958 M. Dickens Man Overboard v. 68 The bleakly familiar: ‘The post has been filled’, or the more courteous brush-off: ‘We will keep your letter on record in case a suitable post arises’. 1969 Listener 31 July 131/2 The problem of the future of British sovereignty can no longer be brushed off with humorous references to accepting foreign referees' decisions in international football matches. |
6. To injure or hurt by grazing; said
esp. of a horse grazing his fetlock with the shoe or hoof of the fellow foot. Also
absol.| 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2661/4 A grey Gelding about 15 hands..his Knees brush'd. 1868 Bp. Fraser in Life (1887) 158 I hope he [a horse] does not ‘cut’ or ‘brush’ in his action. 1886 Sat. Rev. 6 Mar. 327/2 Such severe and..unnecessary pain, as the horse [inflicts] by hitting or brushing himself behind. |
7. To trim (a hedge or tree, the sides of a ditch or path).
local.
| 1513 [implied in brushing vbl. n. 1]. 1809 Warehorne Highway-Bk. 29 June (E.D.D.), For brushing the footpath, 1s. od. 1845 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VI. ii. 479 They [sc. hedges] are carefully brushed, or clipped, twice a year. 1886 R. Holland Gloss. Chester 48 Brush, to trim a hedge. |
8. To beat (a covert). Also
intr. in vbl. n.| 1876 Coursing Cal. 223 Our long dragging beats taking us..round the far side by Fliskoe Forest, in proximity to which the ranges were brushed, but with no good results. 1895 W. Rye Gloss. E. Anglia 26 Brush, to beat a covert; ‘a day's brushing with the governor’. |
9. Hunting. To take the ‘brush’ from (a killed fox) as a trophy of the chase.
| 1879 Tinsley's Mag. XXIV. 334 As they then rode in the master ‘brushed’ him [sc. a fox], while the hounds were baying. 1893 Field 11 Feb. 191/3 Some twenty minutes later he had the satisfaction of brushing his fox. |
10. Painting.
to brush (in): to put in with the brush, to paint in.
| 1897 Daily News 16 Jan. 6/3 For flesh painting, the torso..is so firm, so luminous; the draperies, too, are decisively brushed in. 1901 Ibid. 7 Mar. 6/6 These are vivid, quickly brushed impressions by an artist who has an eye for..Italian landscape. |