Library / English Dictionary |
BRUSH
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Contact with something dangerous or undesirable
Example:
he tried to avoid any brushes with the police
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
contact (close interaction)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Example:
he gave his hair a quick brush
Synonyms:
brush; brushing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
hair care; haircare; hairdressing (care for the hair: the activity of washing or cutting or curling or arranging the hair)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The act of brushing your teeth
Example:
the dentist recommended two brushes a day
Synonyms:
brush; brushing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
dental care (care for the teeth)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Synonyms:
brush; clash; encounter; skirmish
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
combat; fight; fighting; scrap (the act of fighting; any contest or struggle)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brush"):
contretemps (an awkward clash)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A bushy tail or part of a bushy tail (especially of the fox)
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
tail (the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body)
Sense 6
Meaning:
An implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
implement (instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end)
Meronyms (parts of "brush"):
grip; handgrip; handle; hold (the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it)
bristle (a stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament); natural or synthetic)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brush"):
toothbrush (small brush; has long handle; used to clean teeth)
shaving brush (a brush used to apply lather prior to shaving)
scrub brush; scrubber; scrubbing brush (a brush with short stiff bristles for heavy cleaning)
sable; sable's hair pencil; sable brush (an artist's brush made of sable hairs)
paintbrush (a brush used as an applicator (to apply paint))
nailbrush (a brush used to clean a person's fingernails)
hairbrush (a brush used to groom a person's hair)
clothesbrush (a brush used for cleaning clothing)
bristle brush (a brush that is made with the short stiff hairs of an animal or plant)
bottlebrush (a cylindrical brush on a thin shaft that is used to clean bottles)
Derivation:
brush (remove with or as if with a brush)
brush (rub with a brush, or as if with a brush)
brush (clean with a brush)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Conducts current between rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)
Holonyms ("brush" is a part of...):
electric motor (a motor that converts electricity to mechanical work)
generator (engine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Synonyms:
brush; light touch
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
touch; touching (the event of something coming in contact with the body)
Derivation:
brush (touch lightly and briefly)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Synonyms:
brush; brushwood; coppice; copse; thicket
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("brush" is a kind of...):
botany; flora; vegetation (all the plant life in a particular region or period)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brush"):
brake (an area thickly overgrown usually with one kind of plant)
canebrake (a dense growth of cane (especially giant cane))
spinney (a copse that shelters game)
underbrush; undergrowth; underwood (the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest)
Derivation:
brushy (covered with or consisting of bushes or thickets)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Remove with or as if with a brush
Example:
brush aside the objections
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)
Verb group:
brush (clean with a brush)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
brush (an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Example:
He brushed the wall lightly
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
touch (make physical contact with, come in contact with)
Verb group:
brush; sweep (sweep across or over)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "brush"):
crease; graze; rake (scrape gently)
flick (touch or hit with a light, quick blow)
Sentence frames:
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
brush (momentary contact)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Rub with a brush, or as if with a brush
Example:
Johnson brushed the hairs from his jacket
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
rub (move over something with pressure)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Derivation:
brush (an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Example:
She brushed the suit before hanging it back into the closet
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
clean; make clean (make clean by removing dirt, filth, or unwanted substances from)
Verb group:
brush (remove with or as if with a brush)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
They brush the cape
Derivation:
brush (an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Example:
brush the bread with melted butter
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
They brush the bread with melted butter
Sense 6
Meaning:
Example:
A gasp swept cross the audience
Synonyms:
brush; sweep
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "brush" is one way to...):
move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)
Verb group:
brush (touch lightly and briefly)
sail; sweep (move with sweeping, effortless, gliding motions)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Context examples:
That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Mycroft took snuff from a tortoise-shell box, and brushed away the wandering grains from his coat front with a large, red silk handkerchief.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a vast slide that broke the straight wall of a cliff, and was overrun with brush and creeping plants, where a score of tribes could have lain well hidden.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
He washed his teeth, and scrubbed his hands with a kitchen scrub-brush till he saw a nail-brush in a drug-store window and divined its use.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
A new study has identified a link between brushing teeth and preventing heart attacks.
(Frequently brushing teeth may help prevent heart attacks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
To prevent gum disease, you should make sure you're brushing your teeth a minimum of twice per day.
(New Link Found between Alzheimer's & Gum Disease Bacteria, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
“Now, child,” said he to his own daughter, “what will you have?” “The first twig, dear father, that brushes against your hat when you turn your face to come homewards,” said she.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
If you feel you could still learn more, you will have Saturn at your side for eight months of 2020, so you can brush up on any financial areas you still want to master.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
If you're at risk for IE, brush and floss your teeth regularly, and have regular dental checkups.
(Endocarditis, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Ezetimibe appears to interact physically with cholesterol transporters at the brush border of the small intestine and inhibits the intestinal absorption of cholesterol and related phytosterols.
(Ezetimibe, NCI Thesaurus)