1.  brush(n = noun.group) brushwood, coppice, copse, thicket - a dense growth of bushes;
Derived form adjective brushy₁

2.  brush(n = noun.artifact) - an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle;
Derived form verb brush₁, verb brush₃, verb brush₅

3.  brush(n = noun.event) light touch - momentary contact;
Derived form verb brush₂

4.  brush(n = noun.artifact) - conducts current between rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor;

5.  brush(n = noun.animal) - a bushy tail or part of a bushy tail (especially of the fox);

6.  brush(n = noun.act) clash, encounter, skirmish - a minor short-term fight;

7.  brush(n = noun.act) brushing - the act of brushing your teeth; "the dentist recommended two brushes a day"

8.  brush(n = noun.act) brushing - the act of brushing your hair; "he gave his hair a quick brush"

9.  brush(n = noun.act) - contact with something dangerous or undesirable; "he tried to avoid any brushes with the police"; "I had a brush with danger on my way to work"

1.  brush(v = verb.contact) - rub with a brush, or as if with a brush; "Johnson brushed the hairs from his jacket"
Derived form noun brush₂
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s something PP

2.  brush(v = verb.contact) - touch lightly and briefly; "He brushed the wall lightly"
Derived form noun brush₃
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s PP; Somebody ----s somebody; Somebody ----s something; Something is ----ing PP

3.  brush(v = verb.contact) - clean with a brush; "She brushed the suit before hanging it back into the closet"
Derived form noun brush₂
Sample sentences: They %s the cape

4.  brush(v = verb.motion) sweep - sweep across or over; "A gasp swept cross the audience"; "Her long skirt brushed the floor"
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s somebody; Something ----s something

5.  brush(v = verb.change) - remove with or as if with a brush; "brush aside the objections"; "brush away the crumbs"; "brush the dust from the jacket"
Derived form noun brush₂
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

6.  brush(v = verb.contact) - cover by brushing; "brush the bread with melted butter"
Sample sentences: They %s the bread with melted butter

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. [1913 Webster]

2.  The bushy tail of a fox. [1913 Webster]

3.  A tuft of hair on the mandibles. [1913 Webster]

4.  Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood. [1913 Webster]

5.  A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small trees in a wood; underbrush. [1913 Webster]

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.]

7.  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. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

9.  A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy; a brush with the law. [1913 Webster]

10.  A short contest, or trial, of speed. [1913 Webster]

1.  To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, smooth, clean, paint, etc., with a brush. Shak. [1913 Webster]

2.  To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

   To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by. [1913 Webster]

brush, n. & v.
--n.
1 an implement with bristles, hair, wire, etc. varying in firmness set into a block or projecting from the end of a handle, for any of various purposes, esp. cleaning or scrubbing, painting, arranging the hair, etc.
2 the application of a brush; brushing.
3 a (usu. foll. by with) a short esp. unpleasant encounter (a brush with the law). b a skirmish.
4 a the bushy tail of a fox. b a brushlike tuft.
5 Electr. a a piece of carbon or metal serving as an electrical contact esp. with a moving part. b (in full brush discharge) a brushlike discharge of sparks.
6 esp. US & Austral. a undergrowth, thicket; small trees and shrubs. b US such wood cut in faggots. c land covered with brush. d Austral. dense forest.
7 Austral. & NZ sl. a girl or young woman.
--v.
1 tr. a sweep or scrub or put in order with a brush. b treat (a surface) with a brush so as to change its nature or appearance.
2 tr. a remove (dust etc.) with a brush. b apply (a liquid preparation) to a surface with a brush.
3 tr. & intr. graze or touch in passing.
4 intr. perform a brushing action or motion.

Idiom:
brush aside dismiss or dispose of (a person, idea, etc.) curtly or lightly. brushed aluminium aluminium with a lustreless surface. brushed fabric fabric brushed so as to raise the nap. brush off rebuff; dismiss abruptly. brush-off n. a rebuff; an abrupt dismissal. brush over paint lightly. brush turkey Austral. a large mound-building bird, Alectura lathami. brush up
1 clean up or smarten.
2 revive one's former knowledge of (a subject). brush-up n. the process of cleaning up.

Derivative:
brushlike adj. brushy adj.

Etymology:
ME f. OF brosse

VB  be clean, render clean, clean, cleanse, mundify, rinse, wring, flush, full, wipe, mop, sponge, scour, swab, scrub, brush up, wash, lave, launder, buck, absterge, deterge, decrassify, clear, purify, depurate, despumate, defecate, purge, expurgate, elutriate, lixiviate, edulcorate, clarify, refine, rack, filter, filtrate, drain, strain, disinfect, fumigate, ventilate, deodorize, whitewash, castrate, emasculate, sift, winnow, pick, weed, comb, rake, brush, sweep, rout out, clear out, sweep out, make a clean sweep of.

N  contention, strife, contest, contestation, struggle, belligerency, opposition, controversy, polemics, debate, war of words, logomachy, litigation, paper war, high words, sparring, competition, rivalry, corrivalry, corrivalship, agonism, concours, match, race, horse racing, heat, steeple chase, handicap, regatta, field day, sham fight, Derby day, turf, sporting, bullfight, tauromachy, gymkhana, boat race, torpids, wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense, spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting, quarterstaff, single stick, gladiatorship, gymnastics, jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo, athletics, athletic sports, games of skill, shindy, fracas, clash of arms, tussle, scuffle, broil, fray, affray, affrayment, velitation, colluctation, luctation, brabble, brigue, scramble, melee, scrimmage, stramash, bushfighting, free fight, stand up fight, hand to hand, running fight, conflict, skirmish, rencounter, encounter, rencontre, collision, affair, brush, fight, battle, battle royal, combat, action, engagement, joust, tournament, tilt, tilting, tournay, list, pitched battle, death struggle, struggle for life or death, life or death struggle, Armageddon, hard knocks, sharp contest, tug of war, naval engagement, naumachia, sea fight, duel, duello, single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor, triangular duel, hostile meeting, digladiation, deeds of arms, feats of arms, appeal to arms, pugnacity, combativeness, bone of contention, contending, together by the ears, at loggerheads, at war, at issue, competitive, rival, belligerent, contentious, combative, bellicose, unpeaceful, warlike, quarrelsome, pugnacious, pugilistic, gladiatorial, palestric, palestrical, a verbis ad verbera, a word and a blow, a very pretty quarrel as it stands, commune periculum concordiam parit, lis litem generat.

N  roughness, tooth, grain, texture, ripple, asperity, rugosity, salebrosity, corrugation, nodosity, arborescence, pilosity, brush, hair, beard, shag, mane, whisker, moustache, imperial, tress, lock, curl, ringlet, fimbriae, pili, cilia, villi, lovelock, beaucatcher, curl paper, goatee, papillote, scalp lock, plumage, plumosity, plume, panache, crest, feather, tuft, fringe, toupee, wool, velvet, plush, nap, pile, floss, fur, down, byssus, moss, bur, fluff, knot (convolution), rough, uneven, scabrous, scaly, knotted, rugged, rugose, rugous, knurly, asperous, crisp, salebrous, gnarled, unpolished, unsmooth, roughhewn, craggy, cragged, crankling, scraggy, prickly, arborescent, leafy, well-wooded, feathery, plumose, plumigerous, laciniate, laciniform, laciniose, pappose, pileous, pilose, trichogenous, trichoid, tufted, fimbriated, hairy, ciliated, filamentous, hirsute, crinose, crinite, bushy, hispid, villous, pappous, bearded, pilous, shaggy, shagged, fringed, befringed, setous, setose, setaceous, like quills upon the fretful porcupine, rough as a nutmeg grater, rough as a bear, downy, velvety, flocculent, woolly, lanate, lanated, lanuginous, lanuginose, tomentose, fluffy, against the grain, cabello luengo y corto el seso.

VB  move quickly, trip, fisk, speed, hie, hasten, post, spank, scuttle, scud, scuddle, scour, scour the plain, scamper, run like mad, beat it, fly, race, run a race, cut away, shot, tear, whisk, zoom, swoosh, sweep, skim, brush, cut along, bowl along, barrel along, barrel, scorch, burn up the track, rush, dash on, dash off, dash forward, bolt, trot, gallop, amble, troll, bound, flit, spring, dart, boom, march in quick time, march in double time, ride hard, get over the ground, hurry, accelerate, put on, quicken, quicken one's pace, mend one's pace, clap spurs to one's horse, make haste, make rapid strides, make forced marches, make the best of one's way, put one's best leg foremost, stir one's stumps, wing one's way, set off at a score, carry sail, crowd sail, go off like a shot, go like a shot, go ahead, gain ground, outstrip the wind, fly on the wings of the wind, keep up with, keep pace with, outstrip, outmarch.

N  painting, depicting, drawing, design, perspective, sciagraphy, skiagraphy, chiaroscuro, composition, treatment, historical painting, portrait painting, miniature painting, landscape painting, marine painting, still life, flower painting, scene painting, scenography, school, style, the grand style, high art, genre, portraiture, ornamental art, monochrome, polychrome, grisaille, pallet, palette, easel, brush, pencil, stump, black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel, paint, watercolor, body color, oil color, oils, oil paint, varnish, priming, gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass, enamel, encaustic painting, mosaic, tapestry, photography, heliography, color photography, sun painting, graphics, computer graphics, picture, painting, piece, tableau, canvas, oil painting, fresco, cartoon, easel picture, cabinet picture, draught, draft, pencil drawing, water color drawing, etching, charcoal, pen-and-ink, sketch, outline, study, photograph, color photograph, black-and-white photograph, holograph, heliograph, daguerreotype, talbotype, calotype, heliotype, negative, positive, print, glossy print, matte print, enlargement, reduction, life-size print, instant photo, Polaroid photo, technicolor, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid, portrait, whole length, full length, half length, kitcat, head, miniature, shade, silhouette, profile, landscape, seapiece, view, scene, prospect, panorama, diorama, still life, picture gallery, exhibit, studio, atelier, pinacotheca, painted, pictorial, graphic, picturesque, pencil, oil, in pencil, fecit, delineavit, mutum est pictura poema.