brush 
He might, methinks, have stood one brush with them, 
and have yielded when there had been no remedy. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 188. 
1 1 . An application of a brush, as in sweeping 
or dusting ; a brushing ; a removal as if with a 
brush: as, give my hat a brush. [Colloq.] 
Leaves . . . have with one winter's brush 
Fell from their boughs. Shak., T. of A., iv. 3. 
12. A painter; one who uses a brush: as, a 
brother brush, Haidlnger's brushes, optical figures, 
early described by the Austrian mineralogist W. von Hai- 
dinger (1795-1871), appearing like colored brushes, some- 
times resembling the ordinary interference-figures (see 
interference) of a biaxial crystal, observed with ordinary 
transmitted light in sections of certain minerals, especially 
those which effect a marked absorption of color, as an- 
dalusite, iolite, etc. The term also includes the peculiar 
phenomenon of four small colored tufts observed by some 
persons with the naked eye, by others when a Nicol prism 
is used, upon looking at a bright light, as a white cloud. 
The latter phenomenon is supposed to be due to the polar- 
izing action of the eye itself. Hydraulic brush. See 
hydraulic. Revolving brush, a cylindrical brush sup- 
ported in a frame and made to revolve rapidly on an axis 
by gearing or other mechanism. Such brushes are used 
for street-sweeping, and also by barbers. Rotary brush. 
Same as rerolamg brush. =Syn. 10. Kencounter, Skirmish, 
etc. See encounter. 
brush (brush), v. [< ME. bruschen, < OF. bros- 
ser, v. i., beat the brush or thicket for game, 
scour the country, also simply cross, pass, F. 
brosser (= Sp. brozar, brush), < brosse, brush, 
thicket: see brush, .] I. trans. 1. To sweep 
or rub with a brush : as, to brush a hat. 
The robes to kepe well & also to bntiche them clenly. 
Babees Book (ed. Furnivall), p. 180. 
Let their heads be sleekly combed, their blue coats 
brushed. Shak., 1. of the S., iv. 1. 
Dark wiry hair brushed on one side. 
Bulwer, Pelham, xl. 
2. To remove by brushing or by lightly pass- 
ing over: as, to brush off dust. 
Though from off the boughs each morn 
We brush mellifluous dews. Milton, P. L., v. 429. 
I think the very best thing is to brush all the old Dons 
off the stage. Disraeli, Coningsby, v. 2. 
3. To sweep or touch as with a brush ; strike 
lightly by passing over the surface ; pass lightly 
over: as, to brush the arm in passing. 
Brush'd with the hiss of rustling wings. 
Milton, P. L., i. 768. 
A thousand nights have brush'd their balmy wings 
Over these eyes. Dryden. 
4. Figuratively, to ruffle ; excite. 
Poor Silas's loss served to brush the slow current of 
Raveloe conversation. George Eliot, Silas Marner, x. 
5. To furnish with brushes or branches of dead 
trees to climb on : as, to brush peas. To brush 
up, to furbish ; polish ; renovate ; hence, to improve in 
any way ; make brighter or clearer, as the memory or past 
knowledge. 
You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I 
have done my best to brush you up like your neighbours. 
Pope. 
II. intrans. 1. To move quickly or in haste ; 
rush : as, to brush past a person. 
Then Pollux . . . brusshit into batell. 
Destruction of Troy, 1. 1216. 
Snatching his hat, he brushed off like the wind. 
Goldsmith. 
Brush'd 
Thro' the dim meadow toward his treasure-trove. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
2. To move or skim over with a slight contact, 
as a brush. Dryden. 
The stamens are seated at the mouth of the corolla, and 
in falling off do not bruith over the lowly-seated stigmas. 
Darwin, Different Forms of Flowers, p. 42. 
brush-bird (brush'berd), n. Same as scrub- 
bird. 
brush-burn (brush'bern), M. The injury result- 
ing from violent friction, as sliding down a rope 
or a slope of grass or ice. The effects are often 
similar to those of scalding water. 
brusher (brush' er), . 1. One who brushes. 
2. In leather-manuf., one who performs the 
mechanical work of dyeing skins. C. T. Davis, 
Leather, p. 728. 
brushett, [ME. bruschet, < OF. brossettes, 
heath, dim. of brosse, etc., brush, heath: see 
brush and -et 2 .] 1. A thicket. 2. Brushwood. 
And in that ilke brusschet by, 
Five thousand of othre and more. 
MS. Ashmole, 33, fol. 10. (Hallimll.) 
brushful (brush'ful), n. [< brush + -ful.] As 
much as can be lifted with a brush : as, a bi-ush- 
ful of paint. 
b'rush-hat (brush'hat), n. A hat which in the 
process of sizing is continually brushed with a 
hand-brush, for the purpose of bringing a nap 
to the surface. 
brushiness (brush 'i-nes), n. [< brushy + 
-imss.] The quality of being brushy. 
700 
brushing (brush'ing), p. a. Brisk; rapid: as, 
a brutthiiit/ gallop. 
brushing-machine (brush ' ing- ma -shen"), n. 
1. An apparatus for removing the dust from 
hats, or for laying the nap. 2. A machine 
having a cylindrical brush, used to lay the nap 
on cloth after shearing. 3. An apparatus for 
removing the dust and fuzz from wheat. It 
consists of a series of brushes and a blast of 
air for blowing away the dust and refuse. 
brushite (brush'it), . [After Prof. Brush of 
Yale College.] A hydrated phosphate of cal- 
cium found in the guano of Aves Islands and 
Sombrero in the West Indies, in slender mono- 
clinic crystals of a pale-yellow color. 
brush-jack (brush'jak), n. A hand-tool for 
holding bunches of brushwood while binding 
them into mats or fascines for use in embank- 
ments, etc. 
brushlet (brush'let), . [< brush + dim. -let.] 
In entom., a scopula or small brush-like organ 
on the leg of a drone-bee, used for cleansing 
the body. Westwood. 
brushman (brush'man), n. ; pi. brushmen (-men). 
One who plies the brush ; a painter. 
How difficult in artists to allow 
To other brushmen even a grain of merit ! 
Wolcot, Odes, viii. 
brushment (brush'ment), n. [< brush + -merit. 
Cf. bushment.] Brust or small wood. 
brush-monkey (brush'mung'ki), n. A name 
of the species of small American marmosets 
of the genus Midas. 
brush-ore (brush'or), . An iron ore found in 
the forest of Dean, England. Also called black- 
brush. Ure, 
brush-plow (brush'plou), n. A strong plow 
used for breaking up rough land covered with 
brush and small trees. 
brush-puller (brush'pul"er), . A machine for 
pulling up brushwood by the roots. E. H. 
Knight. 
brush-tailed (brush'tald), a. Having a bushy 
tail : specifically applied to certain porcupines 
of the genus Atherura. 
brush-tongued (brush'tungd), a. Having a 
brushy tongue : specifically applied to parrots 
of the group Tnchoglossince. 
brush-turkey (brush'ter"ki), n. The popular 
name of a large gregarious rasorial bird of 
Australia, the Talegallus lathami, of the family 
Megapodiidw, of about the size of a turkey, 
blackish-brown above and silvery-gray below : 
so called because it lives in the brush or scrub. 
brush-wheel (brush'hwel), . 1. A toothless 
wheel sometimes used in light machinery to 
turn a similar wheel by means of bristles, or 
some brush-like or soft substance, as cloth, 
buff-leather, india-rubber, or the like, attached 
to the circumference. 2. A circular brush 
used in a lathe, with polishing-powders, for 
cleaning and polishing curved, indented, and 
chased work. 
brushwood (brush' wud), n. [< brush + wood 1 .] 
1. A thicket or coppice of small trees and 
shrubs. 2. Branches of trees cut off. 
brushy (brush'i), a. [< brush + -yl.] Resem- 
bling a brush; full of brush; rough; shaggy; 
long-haired. 
The brtixlni substance of the nerve. 
Boyle, Works, III. 343. 
As soon as we got down near the brushy ravine we rode 
along without talking. T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 129. 
brusk 1 , brusque (brusk), a. [< F. brusque, < 
It. brusco (= Sp. Pg. brusco), rude, sharp, sour ; 
origin unknown.] Abrupt in manner ; rough; 
rude. 
We are sorry to hear that the Scottish gentleman . . . 
found but a brusk welcome. Wotton, Reliquise, p. 582. 
= Syn. See abrupt. 
brusk 2 (brusk), a. [Cf. ML. bruscatus, of a 
bronze color, pp. of bruscare, bruxare, scorch, 
burn.] In her., tawny. 
bruskness, brusqueness (briisk'nes), n. [< 
brusk, brusque, + -ness.] The character of be- 
ing brusk ; a rude, abrupt, or blunt manner. 
He was almost fierce in his brusqueness. 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floss. 
brusque, brusqueness. See bruskl, bruskness. 
brusquerie (brus'ke-re), n. [F. . < brusque : see 
brusk and -ery.] Same as bruskness. 
Dorothea . . . spoke with cold bntsfmerie, ... in 
amusing contrast with the solicitous amiability of her ad- 
mirer. George Eliot, Middlemarch, I. 25. 
Brussels carpet, lace, sprouts. See the nouns. 
brust 1 (brustT), i). A dialectal variant of burst: 
as, " like to brust," Burns. 
brust 2 t, n. [ME. : see birse, bristle.] A bristle. 
brutalism 
No Jupiter, no Apolin, 
No is worth the brunt of a swin. 
Spec. Early Eng. iletr. Rom. (ed. Ellis), H. 332. 
Roland lough [laughed] and said, 
No is worth the brust of a swine. 
Rom. of Roland. 
bnist 2 t, [ME., for *brusted, bristled, en- 
raged, < brust, a bristle : see bristle.] Bristled; 
enraged. 
Cometh the maister budel [beadle) brust ase a bore. 
Polit. Songs (ed. Wright), p. 151. 
brusten (brus'tn). A dialectal variant of burst, 
past participle of burst. 
brUStleH (brus'l), v. [< ME. britstlien, a par- 
allel form to brastlien, < AS. brastlian, also 
bcerstlum, crackle : see brastle. As an imitative 
word, of. rustle.] I. intrans. To crackle ; make 
a small crackling noise ; also, to rustle, as a silk 
garment. 
He routeth with a slepy noise, 
And bruttleth as a moukes froise, 
When it is throwe into the panne. 
Gower, Conf. Amant., ii. 93. 
See, where the sea comes ! how it foams and brustles .' 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iv. 7. 
II. trans. To cause to crackle ; crack. 
Break 'em more ; they are but bnistled yet. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, ii. 6. 
brustle 2 t, A dialectal or obsolete form of 
bristle. 
brustle 2 t (brus'l), r. i. I. An obsolete or dia- 
lectal form of bristle. 2. To approach one 
threateningly: as, " I'll brustle up to him," Ot- 
way. 
brustle 3 t (brus'l), v. t. [Also brusell; appar. 
a freq. form of bruise, ME. briisen, prob. sug- 
gested by brustle 1 .] To bruise ; crush. 
brustle 4 (brus'l), v. t. [Also written brusle; < 
OF. brusler, later bruler (>ME. brule, roast, fry), 
mod. F. bruler = Pr. bruslar, burn, = It. brus- 
tolare, burn, now grill, fry, toast, appar. (< L. 
as if "per-nstulare; cf . Pr. usclar for *ustlar = 
OSp. vslar = It. ustolare = Wall, ustura, < L. 
ustulare, burn) dim. or freq. of i"r. bruzar, 
bruizar (for 'brussar) = It. bruseiare, bruciare, 
ab-brusciare (ML. bruscare, bruxare, brustare, 
burn, < L. as if *perustare, freq. of L. perurere, 
pp. perustus, burn through, < per, through, + 
urere, burn. The forms touch some of different 
origin, as those of broil 1 , q. v., and in E. the 
word may be indeed a particular use of brustle 1 , 
crackle: see brustle 1 .] To parch. Halliwell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
brut, r. i. [E. dial., also brit, appar. < F. brou- 
ter, OF. brouster, browse: see browse 1 .] To 
browse. 
Bruta (bro'ta), n. pi. [NL., neut. pi. of L. 
brutus, irrational, brute: see brute.] If. In 
the Linnean system of classification, the sec- 
ond order of Mammalia, containing the gen- 
era ElepMs, Trichechus, Bradypus, Myrmeco- 
phaga, Manis, and Daypus. 2. In mod. zool., 
disencumbered of the genera Elephas and Tri- 
chechus, and same as Edentata. [There is a grow- 
ing tendency to use the term in this sense instead of 
Edentata, which latter is literally incorrect, few of the 
so-called edentates }>eing toothless.] 
brutal (bro'tal), a. [= F. brutal, < ML. bruta- 
lis, savage, stupid, < L. brutus, applied to dumb 
animals: see brute.] 1. Pertaining to or re- 
sembling a brute ; brutish : as, brutal nature ; 
"brutal kind," Milton, P. L., ix. 565. 
In Irish districts, men deteriorated in size and shape, 
the nose sunk, the gums were exposed, with diminished 
brain and brutal form. Emerson, Eng. Traits, p. 299. 
How widely doth the brutal courage of Ajax differ from 
the amiable bravery of Diomedes ! 
Fielding, Joseph Andrews. 
Hence 2. Savage; cruel; inhuman; unfeel- 
ing: as, brutal passions; brutal manners. 
Brutal alike in deed and word, 
With callous heart and hand of strife, 
How like a fiend may man be made ! 
WhiUier, Mogg Megone, iii. 
3. Rude; harsh; coarse; crude. [Rare.] 
The human eye and mind together integrate, so to 
speak, the impressions of many separate and selected 
moments into one general view, while the camera can 
only give a brutal copy of an unseleeted state of things, 
with all its atmospheric and other imperfections. 
Science, IV. 202. 
= Syn, 2. Brutish, Beastly, etc. (see brute); unfeeling, 
ruthless, rude, rough, gross, merciless, barbarous. 
brutalisation, brutalise. See tndaUgation, 
brutalize. 
brutalism (bro'tal-izm), n. [< brutal + -ism] 
The practice or "exercise of brutality; inhu- 
manity. 
The industrial system of Europe required for its admin- 
istration an amount of suffering, depravity, and brutal- 
inn, which formed one of the great scandals of the age. 
Everett, Orations, II. 63. 
