Brush \Brush\ (br[u^]sh), n. [OE. brusche, OF. broche, broce, brosse, brushwood, F. brosse brush, LL. brustia, bruscia, fr. OHG. brusta, brust, bristle, G. borste bristle, b["u]rste brush. See {Bristle}, n., and cf. {Browse}.] 1. An instrument composed of bristles, or other like material, set in a suitable back or handle, as of wood, bone, or ivory, and used for various purposes, as in removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, etc. Brushes have different shapes and names according to their use; as, clothes brush, paint brush, tooth brush, etc.
2. The bushy tail of a fox.
3. (Zo["o]l.) A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
4. Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood.
5. A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small trees in a wood; underbrush.
6. land covered with brush[5]; in Australia, a dense growth of vegetation in good soil, including shrubs and trees, mostly small. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
7. (Elec.) A bundle of flexible wires or thin plates of metal, used to conduct an electrical current to or from the commutator of a dynamo, electric motor, or similar apparatus.
8. The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush; a rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as, we got a brush from the wheel as it passed.
[As leaves] have with one winter's brush Fell from their boughts. --Shak.
9. A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy; a brush with the law.
Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong, And tempt not yet the brushes of the war. --Shak.
10. A short contest, or trial, of speed.
Let us enjoy a brush across the country. --Cornhill Mag.
{Electrical brush}, a form of the electric discharge characterized by a brushlike appearance of luminous rays diverging from an electrified body.
Brush \Brush\, v. i. To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by.
Snatching his hat, he brushed off like the wind. --Goldsmith.
Brush \Brush\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Brushed} (br[u^]sht); p. pr. & vb. n. {Brushing}.] [OE. bruschen; cf. F. brosser. See {Brush}, n.] 1. To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, smooth, clean, paint, etc., with a brush. ``A' brushes his hat o' mornings.'' --Shak.
2. To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush.
Some spread their sailes, some with strong oars sweep The waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave. --Fairfax.
Brushed with the kiss of rustling wings. --Milton.
3. To remove or gather by brushing, or by an act like that of brushing, or by passing lightly over, as wind; -- commonly with off.
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushed With raven's feather from unwholesome fen. --Shak.
And from the boughts brush off the evil dew. --Milton.
{To brush aside}, to remove from one's way, as with a brush.
{To brush away}, to remove, as with a brush or brushing motion.
{To brush up}, to paint, or make clean or bright with a brush; to cleanse or improve; to renew.
You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors. --Pope.
Yani who uses traditional Chinese brush and ink technique to paint animals, especially monkeys, but said she plans to expand her artwork and concentrate on humans.
He had his first major brush with the Kremlin in 1961, when he appealed to Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev to stop testing nuclear weapons.
The likeness lies with a presence not closely described but known and sensed, as it blinked and, shifted, alive in every broad sweep of the brush across the surface of the canvas.
In Southern California counties, a total of 45 homes were destroyed or damaged in brush fires by Wednesday night.
Knipling said it is used in considerable quantities in the United States to clear brush in areas where food crops do not grow.
"The situation gets more critical by the minute," said Borges. "We're on the brink of a real emergency." The fire began 28 days ago as a series of brush fires throughout the northeastern state of Bahia.
One fire grew to 935 acres Monday while smoldering brush on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation re-ignited and consumed 146 acres. A blaze near John Day had destroyed 880 acres, according to state and federal fire managers.
In California's Sierra Nevada foothills, firefighters on Tuesday contained a blaze that burned 11,700 acres of brush and grassland and destroyed seven homes.
His most recent brush with bad publicity is the acclaimed documentary film "Roger & Me," which chronicles the devastation caused by GM plant closings and layoffs around Flint, Mich., birthplace of the corporation in 1908.
Clean filter openings with a rag or brush, remove debris and replace any worn parts.
With a good bob cut, you should be able to just shampoo, add a conditioner and styling gel or foam, and brush.
And it is parents, after all, who are buying new "self-nurturing" products, such as Lewis Galoob Toys Inc.'s talking Dozzzy doll, which reminds youngsters to brush their teeth at bedtime.
In Colorado, a 50-acre brush fire started by an errant bullet at Stone Canyon was contained Monday night as about 50 firefighters battled the blaze.
Tamarisk and rabbit brush grow here, and foxtail barley rippling in wind like a sand-colored sea.
After mixing the acid according to directions, apply it using a brush to be sure it gets in all the pores.
That defiance of gravity occurred despite the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, tight fiscal and monetary policies, slower economic growth and New Delhi's near brush with default when India came close to running out of foreign exchange a few months ago.
Air tankers that had been used for a 5,400-acre brush fire near Salt Lake City were diverted to the fire near Paradise, a community of about 500 residents between Ogden and Logan in the Wasatch National Forest.
In 10 days the retired and near-retired of one of England's Tory heartlands plan to take their revenge in the Christchurch by-election. The prime minister will no doubt brush off defeat as a familiar case of mid-term blues.
More than 1,000 firefighters battled the blazes through the night and declared them under control after they had burned about 2,220 acres of forest and brush.
"We don't get much media attention in our sport, so if I win a medal I'll have to brush up on my interview technique, and maybe think about getting my hair fixed different for television.
At one stage the entire fresco was nearly white-washed. Working so close to Michelangelo, does he feel the presence of the genius? 'Ah, yes' he sighs deeply. He is familiar with every brush stroke.
The government news service Notimex said only 17 percent of all elementary schoolchildren in Mexico brush their teeth daily because they do not have access to dental education and care.
But after licking the brush and acting up, Ruby gets down to business, concentrating on the canvas, applying paints then curling her trunk high above her head when she is finished with a color.
Interplak, a new electronic plaque-removing brush for $99, a Viralizer spray for $35 to relieve cold symptoms and humidifiers are hot items at department and appliance stores.
Once, he said he assigned Kagan to paint a bulkhead, but knew he would have to keep an eye on him to make sure he used the right paint and brush.
There's still a lot of brush to clear out at the ranch, fences that need repair, and horses to ride.
A wind-whipped fire roared through canyons near Los Angeles, damaging more than a dozen homes and forcing 500 people to flee flames that jumped from brush to rooftops.
During the 12-month-old drought, responsible for extensive brush fires in the Everglades last year that occasionally shrouded Miami in smoke, rainfall has been below normal in all sections of the state, except the Panhandle.
In Northern California, residents and authorities began to clean up in the wake of the ferocious north winds that damaged boats and airplanes, downed power lines and trees and fanned dozens of brush fires.
In July Rolls-Royce hired a new advertising agency, Edwards Martin Thornton, to brush up its image through a press advertising campaign between August-November.