Brush

How to spell brush

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce brush

What does brush mean?

1. nounA handheld implement with bristles used for cleaning, painting, grooming, or smoothing.
2. verbTo sweep, clean, or touch something lightly with or as if with a brush.
3. nounA short, often unwelcome, encounter or experience with something.
4. nounDense, low scrub, twigs, or wild undergrowth.

Brush in a sentence

• noun

  She dipped the brush in white paint before starting the trim.

• verb

  Remember to brush your teeth before the dental appointment.

• noun

  His only brush with the law was a parking fine years ago.

• noun

  The hikers cleared a path through the thick brush on the trail.

• noun

  A stiff brush is best for scrubbing dried mud off boots.

• verb

  She felt the cat brush against her leg in the dark hallway.

Where does brush come from?

Language of origin: French

Brush came into English in the 1300s from the Old French word brosse, which meant 'brushwood' or 'scrubby undergrowth'. The original idea was a clump of rough twigs, and the cleaning tool got its name because early brushes were literally bundles of stiff twigs or bristles tied together. From the object came the verb 'to brush', meaning to sweep or wipe with such a tool, and later the gentler sense of touching something lightly in passing. The 'undergrowth' meaning survived especially in North American usage, where 'the brush' still names wild scrubland. The spelling is straightforwardly phonetic, so the only thing to watch is the closing -sh, which English keeps consistent across words like 'crush' and 'hush'.

How the word is built

• brush (single root; from Old French brosse 'brushwood, scrub'); no prefix or suffix