Brusher

brush ¹  (brsh)

n.

1.

a. A device consisting of bristles fastened into a handle, used in scrubbing, polishing, or painting.

b. The act of using this device.

2. A light touch in passing; a graze.

3. An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous: a brush with the law; a brush with death.

4. A bushy tail: the brush of a fox.

5. A sliding connection completing a circuit between a fixed and a moving conductor.

6. A snub; a brushoff.

v. brushed, brush·ing, brush·es

v.tr.

1.

a. To clean, polish, or groom with a brush.

b. To apply with or as if with motions of a brush.

c. To remove with or as if with motions of a brush.

2. To dismiss abruptly or curtly: brushed the matter aside; brushed an old friend off.

3. To touch lightly in passing; graze against.

v.intr.

1. To use or apply a brush.

2. To move past something so as to touch it lightly.

Phrasal Verbs:

brush back Baseball

To force (a batter) to move away from the plate by throwing an inside pitch.

brush up

1. To refresh one's memory.

2. To renew a skill.

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[Middle English brusshe, from Old French brosse, brushwood, brush; see brush².]

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brusher n.

brushy adj.

Synonyms: brush¹, flick¹, glance¹, graze², shave, skim
These verbs mean to make light contact with something in passing: Her arm brushed mine. I flicked the paper with my finger. The arrow glanced off the tree. The knife blade grazed the countertop. A taxi shaved the curb. The oar skims the pond's surface.

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brush ²  (brsh)

n.

1.

a. A dense growth of bushes or shrubs.

b. Land covered by such a growth.

2. Cut or broken branches.

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[Middle English brusshe, from Old French brosse, brushwood, from Vulgar Latin *bruscia, perhaps from Latin bruscum, knot on a maple.]

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brushy adj.