Flushed

How to spell flushed

7 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce flushed

What does flushed mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a red or glowing face, typically from heat, exertion, emotion, or fever.
2. verbPast tense of flush: cleared or cleaned something by sending a rush of water through it.

Flushed in a sentence

• adjective

  Her cheeks were flushed after the long run home.

• verb

  She flushed the medication down the drain by mistake.

• adjective

  He looked flushed and feverish, so he stayed home from work.

• verb

  The plumber flushed the pipes to clear the blockage.

Where does flushed come from?

Language of origin: Other

The verb 'flush' surfaced in English in the late 1300s, and its history is tangled because several senses seem to have merged. The earliest recorded meaning was 'to fly up suddenly', as a startled bird breaks from cover, possibly an imitative word echoing the sudden whirring rush of wings, and perhaps influenced by 'flash' and 'flit'. From that idea of a sudden rushing movement came the sense of water rushing forth, which gave us the rinsing 'flush' of pipes and basins by around the 1500s. A parallel sense, a rush of colour to the face, produced the 'flushed' cheeks of embarrassment or fever. The past form simply adds the regular '-ed' ending; the only mild spelling care is keeping the double consonant 'sh' and not slipping toward 'flushd'.

How the word is built

• flush (to redden, rush, or rinse with water)
• -ed (past tense / participle suffix)