brush
part of speech
noun (a brush, brushes); verb (brush, brushes, brushed, brushing; brush off, brush up)
meaning for a pupil
1) A tool with many bristles on a handle, used for cleaning, painting or tidying hair: toothbrush, paintbrush, hairbrush. tree →
2) Verb: to clean or tidy with a brush: brush your teeth, brush your hair. tree →
3) Verb: to touch lightly while passing: «Her hand brushed mine». tree →
4) Noun: low bushes and small trees (brush, scrub). tree →
5) Brush up on: to practise something again. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: Here "brush-wood" means dry twigs and small branches that catch fire easily. Interpretation: The prophet prays that God would appear so mightily that the nations tremble, like fire sweeping through dry brush. It is a picture of God's power made known to the world. In the primary lessons: In hygiene: brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, and brush your hair; brush your dog. In art: paintbrushes. In Australian and US safety: brush fires (bushfires) in dry land. Phrases: brush your teeth, brush your hair, paintbrush, toothbrush, hairbrush, brush off, brush up on, a brush with danger, brush fire.
examples
- As when fire kindleth the brush-wood, and the fire causeth the waters to boil; to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations might tremble at Thy presence, (Prophets ISA.64.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- Brush your teeth twice a day. tree →
- Brush your hair before school. tree →
- Get a clean paintbrush for the blue paint. tree →
- Change your toothbrush every three months. tree →
- A leaf brushed my face. tree →
- I need to brush up on my times tables. tree →
- The cat loves being brushed. tree →
- Firefighters put out the brush fire. tree →
- ‘Brush me, girl!’ said the head. tree →
note
Countable noun: brushes (add -es). Regular verb: brushed. You «brush» teeth, not «wash» them. In maths: «2 minutes, twice a day» = 4 minutes a day = 28 minutes a week.
In the corpora
- Big flat brushes suit skies and backgrounds; small round brushes with a pointed tip suit details.
- Loose brushwork, holding the brush further from the bristles, often makes paintings look more alive.
- Lorikeets have brush-tipped tongues for licking nectar and pollen from flowers, and they are noisy visitors to gardens in eastern Australia.
- Przewalski's horses are short and stocky, sandy brown, with a stiff mane that stands up like a brush.
- The Mole «had to brush away a tear or two with the back of his paw.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «brush» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.