brushnoun
uk/brʌʃ/us/brʌʃ/brush noun (TOOL)
A2 [ C ] an object with short pieces of stiff hair, plastic, or wire attached to a base or handle, used for cleaning, arranging your hair, or painting:
A2 [ C ] used as a combining form:
B2 [ S ] mainly UK an act of cleaning with a brush:
More examples
- She leaned the brush against the wall.
- a shaving brush
- We'll need some wallpaper paste and a big brush.
- Get me a brush and I'll sort your hair out.
- a brush stroke
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Equipment used for cleaning
- bath towel
- broom
- broomstick
- carpet sweeper
- chamois
- facecloth
- feather duster
- floor cloth
- Hoover
- household goods
- J-cloth
- pressure washer
- rag
- scrubbing brush
- squeegee
- squeegee mop
- sweeper
- towelette
- washcloth
- wire brush
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brush noun (TOUCH)
[ C usually singular ] a quick, light touch:
a situation in which you experience something, or almost experience something, especially something unpleasant:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Touching & feeling
- feel
- feel your way idiom
- fiddle
- fiddle (around) with sth
- finger
- hand
- hand to hand idiom
- handle
- haptic
- kinaesthesia
- lick
- nudge
- pat
- paw
- play
- play with sth
- tactile
- tap
- toy
- toy with sth
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brush noun (BUSHES)
[ U ] US small, low bushes or the rough land they grow on:
[ U ] US → brushwood
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Geography: deserts, prairies & wildernesses
- Bushman
- common
- desert
- dust bowl
- marginal land
- moor
- moorland
- pampas
- pasture
- plain
- scrub
- steppe
- sward
- tall-grass prairie
- the outback
- tundra
- undeveloped
- waste
- wasteland
- wild
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brush noun (TAIL)
[ C ] the tail of a fox
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Miscellaneous animal body parts
- -tailed
- back end
- blowhole
- collar
- dorsal
- giblets
- hind
- hindquarters
- nipple
- pincer
- pseudopod
- speculum
- stalk
- sting
- stinger
- tail
- tentacle
- udder
- wing
- winged
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brushverb
uk/brʌʃ/us/brʌʃ/brush verb (TOUCH)
B2 [ I + adv/prep, T ] to touch (something) quickly and lightly or carelessly:
C1 [ T + adv/prep ] to move something somewhere using a brush or your hand:
More examples
- She brushed away what looked suspiciously like a tear.
- He paused to brush a fly away from his face.
- What's the matter?" he asked, brushing a stray hair off his jacket.
- Her elbow brushed against the cup, spilling tea everywhere.
- She stood up and brushed an insect from her skirt.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Touching & feeling
- feel
- feel your way idiom
- fiddle
- fiddle (around) with sth
- finger
- hand
- hand to hand idiom
- handle
- haptic
- kinaesthesia
- lick
- nudge
- pat
- paw
- play
- play with sth
- tactile
- tap
- toy
- toy with sth
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brush verb (CLEAN)
A2 [ T ] to clean something or make something smooth with a brush:
More examples
- I can't brush your hair if you don't keep still!
- She took her hairbrush from her handbag and began to brush her hair.
- She brushed her long red hair.
- He hadn't brushed his hair and his clothes were rumpled.
- She touched up her lipstick and brushed her hair.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Cleaning generally
- brush sb/sth off
- cleaner
- cleaning
- cleanse
- cleansing
- decontaminate
- groom
- purification
- purify
- rinse
- rinse sth out
- scour
- scrub
- sluice
- sluice sth down/out
- sponge
- sweep
- wash (sth) out
- wipe sth down
- wipe sth up
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