brush
Usage
What are other ways to say brush?
A brush is a brief encounter or skirmish: a brush with the law. Struggle implies vigorous bodily effort or violent exertion: a hand-to-hand struggle. Clash implies a direct and sharp collision between opposing parties, efforts, interests, etc.: a clash of opinions.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Perhaps it’s being pet in a certain way, combing their fur with a brush or letting them chase a feather.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
The brush fire, dubbed the Getty fire, had grown to 20 acres by about 5:30 p.m.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
The brush head features a tiny camera that analyzes 28 live images a second to identify gaps in the teeth, triggering a conical burst of mouth rinse that flosses in between.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
It tars everyone with the same brush, regardless of the facts.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
About a minute later, Rowdy came tearing out of the brush with a sheepish look on his face and with his tail between his legs.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
TAICHUNG, Taiwan—The first course arrived on a miniature lacquered rack, the kind you’d expect to hold ink brushes in a scholar’s studio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
After so long on the road, driving past despair dotted along the road’s shoulders, Day brushes off a cry for help with a joke.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
"Cytology brushes can be used when dry and do an excellent job of harvesting cellular material without damaging the integrity of the artifact being sampled," says Breen.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Daniele Garner brushes a yak at the Pettee Ranch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
She presses a kiss to the top of his head and brushes his bangs back from his face.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
They admired one another from afar, brushed shoulders only in passing, and, in some ways, represented opposing ways of challenging the limits placed on women in indie rock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Hawaii is still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Lala, which brushed past the southern part of the Big Island last month, bringing destructive winds and severe flash floods.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
"Everything we thought has been brushed under the carpet and moved to one side, we are pretty much back to square one."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
As MarketWatch’s Joseph Adinolfi reports, the bull market has brushed aside some pretty major events on its six-year climb, including the worst-ever bond selloff and a war with Iran this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Rolling to the side, I tucked my arm under my head and was just nodding off to sleep when my fingertips brushed against a thick piece of paper someone had tucked under my pillow.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Edison explained structure brushing in an article last year, describing how it cleared all vegetation around certain equipment, creating a 10-foot barrier to reduce the fire risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
After initially brushing off LLMs, DeepMind was developing its own chatbots.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Making a habit of brushing can prevent needing to put an older dog under general anesthesia just so a vet can clean the pet’s teeth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
These included repeated brushing, chewing forces, and contact with acidic foods that can gradually dissolve enamel.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 23, 2026
She should have said something to calm Major Puff’s nerves, but the truth was, all that brushing of her fur felt wonderful.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Vocabulary lists containing brush
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Units 2–3
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Neighborhood Odes
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