brush

brush¹

—brushable, adj. —brusher, n. —brushlike, adj.

/brush/, n.

1. an implement consisting of bristles, hair, or the like, set in or attached to a handle, used for painting, cleaning, polishing, grooming, etc.

2. one of a pair of devices consisting of long, thin handles with wire bristles attached, used in jazz or dance bands for keeping a soft, rhythmic beat on the trap drums or the cymbals.

3. the bushy tail of an animal, esp. of a fox.

4. Elect.

a. a conductor, often made of carbon or copper or a combination of the two, serving to maintain electric contact between stationary and moving parts of a machine, generator, or other apparatus.

b. See brush discharge.

5. a feathery or hairy tuft or tassel, as on the tip of a kernel of grain or on a man's hat.

6. an act or instance of brushing; application of a brush.

7. a light, stroking touch.

8. a brief encounter: He has already had one brush with the law.

9. a close approach, esp. to something undesirable or harmful: a brush with disaster.

10. get the brush, to be rejected or rebuffed: She greeted Jim effusively, but I got the brush.

11. give the brush, to ignore, rebuff, etc.: If you're still angry with him, give him the brush.

v.t.

12. to sweep, paint, clean, polish, etc., with a brush.

13. to touch lightly in passing; pass lightly over: His lips brushed her ear.

14. to remove by brushing or by lightly passing over: His hand brushed a speck of lint from his coat.

v.i.

15. to move or skim with a slight contact.

16. brush aside, to disregard; ignore: Our complaints were simply brushed aside.

17. brush off, to rebuff; send away: She had never been brushed off so rudely before.

18. brush up on, to revive, review, or resume (studies, a skill, etc.): She's thinking of brushing up on her tennis.

Also, brush up.

[1350-1400; (n.) ME brusshe, prob. to be identified with BRUSH², if orig. sense was implement made from twigs, etc., culled from brushwood; (v.) ME brushen to hasten, rush, prob. < OF brosser to travel (through brush), v. deriv. of broce (see BRUSH²)]

Syn. 8. engagement, action, skirmish. See struggle.

brush²

—brushiness, n.

/brush/, n.

1. a dense growth of bushes, shrubs, etc.; scrub; thicket.

2. a pile or covering of lopped or broken branches; brushwood.

3. bushes and low trees growing in thick profusion, esp. close to the ground.

4. Also called brushland. land or an area covered with thickly growing bushes and low trees.

5. backwoods; a sparsely settled wooded region.

[1350-1400; ME brusshe < MF broisse, OF broce underbrush (cf. AF brousson wood, brusseie heath), perh. < VL *bruscia excrescences, deriv. of L bruscum knot or excrescence on a maple tree]

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▪ art

      device composed of natural or synthetic fibres set into a handle that is used for cleaning, grooming, polishing, writing, or painting. Brushes were used by man as early as the Paleolithic Period (began about 2,500,000 years ago) to apply pigment, as shown by the cave paintings of Altamira in Spain and the Périgord in France. In historical times the early Egyptians used brushes to create their elaborate tomb paintings, while the ancient Chinese employed the tip of a long-haired brush to make the many intricate characters of their writing, a practice continued in the Orient today.

      The type of material used to make a brush and its design are dictated by the intended use. Hog bristles, for example, have long been used for paintbrushes and art brushes because such animal fibres are flexible and resilient and display an excellent capacity for holding paint. Each individual bristle has a broad, sturdy base and a tapered tip that splits into several fine filaments. The hair of other animals such as horses, oxen, squirrels, and badgers is used in certain kinds of household and toilet brushes, as are various types of plant fibres, the most important of which are piassava obtained from a Brazilian palm and palmyra bassine derived from the palmyra palm of Africa and Sri Lanka. Such plant fibres are converted into brush material by soaking, beating, and drying. Cotton fibres also can be used for brush bristles. They are treated with acetic acid followed by diffusion of the acetylated product in acetone. The resulting solution is spun and projected through the tiny orifices of a device known as a spinnerette and allowed to solidify. Artificial brush fibres are most commonly made of nylon and polyethylene, though vinyl and steel wire are also used for certain applications. Nylon fibres are either tapered and split like hog bristles for use in paintbrushes or left untapered for making cleaning brushes, hair brushes, and toothbrushes. Polyethylene fibres, which are rather short and stumplike, are suitable for massage brushes.

      Brush bristles are joined to handles and backs of wood, plastic, or metal in several ways. Paintbrushes and art brushes are assembled in a metal cup that forms a mold for the desired brush shape. After the bristles are trimmed to size and bound together, they are transferred to a metal ferrule into which cement or a gum rubber solution is poured. When this adhesive has hardened, a handle is fastened to the ferrule. Many household and toilet brushes are produced by inserting tufts of fibres into holes drilled in brush backs.

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