brushing

«brushing» in Mova's school dictionary: cleaning or tidying something with a brush: brushing your… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb form (-ing form of brush: brush, brushes, brushed, brushing); noun (brushing, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Brushing means cleaning or tidying something with a brush: brushing your teeth, brushing your hair. tree →

2) Brushing means touching something lightly as you pass: the leaves were brushing my face. tree →

3) Brushing can mean putting paint, oil or egg on something with a brush. tree →

4) As a noun, brushing is the act of cleaning with a brush. tree →

sense in the lessons

In hygiene lessons tooth brushing is very important: brush twice a day (morning and before bed) for about two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, reaching all the teeth and the gumline; this removes plaque and bacteria that cause holes. Brushing your hair and brushing pets (to keep their fur clean) are everyday care. In stories «brushing» can describe gentle touch: a cat brushing against your legs. Phrases: brushing your teeth, brushing your hair, brush off (ignore), brush up on (practise again).

examples

• I'm brushing my teeth before bed. tree →
• Brushing twice a day keeps your teeth healthy. tree →
• Brushing your teeth should take about two minutes. tree →
• She is brushing the dog's fur. tree →
• The cat was brushing against my legs. tree →
• Dad was brushing egg on the pastry. tree →
• I'm brushing up on my times tables before the test. tree →
• Don't forget brushing your tongue too. tree →
• After some time, however, a gentleman who came to his master’s house gave Whittington a penny for brushing his shoes. tree →

note

Spelling: brush → brushes, brushed, brushing. Spit out toothpaste after brushing but you don't need to rinse with lots of water (the fluoride works longer). «Brush off» means ignore someone or something unkindly; «brush up on» means practise again.

In the corpora

• Acid softens tooth enamel for a short time, so it is better to wait a while after a fizzy drink before brushing.
• After brushing you spit out the toothpaste but do not rinse straight away, so the fluoride keeps protecting the teeth.
• After brushing, spit out the toothpaste but do not rinse your mouth with water straight away.
• Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth saves a lot of water every day.
• So Owen got clever and wet the brush under the tap without brushing.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «brushing» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.