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:
If you didn’t brush your teeth well enough, you will eventually be paying for that at the dentist!
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 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
Bass pointed to the fire department’s new fire chief and said the city would march into the state’s land holding to clear hazardous brush if the state does not do its part.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Both books inevitably brush against today’s argument over the American founding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Balthilda poured hot water in the tub and held out soap and a brush to scrub myself.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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
When we wonder about his Ukrainian surname, he brushes that off as irrelevant.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 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
This year, despite the attacks, he expects an even bigger turnout as the population brushes off Russia’s unyielding assaults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Empty paint buckets, paint brushes, stepladders, stools, saucepans, frying-pans, rotten eggs, dead rats, bottles of hair-oil—anything those brutes could lay their hands on came raining down upon the peach.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
And, most recently, Taylor Fritz was brushed aside by Jannik Sinner in straight sets at the 2024 U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
For decades, testosterone deficiency was overlooked and under-researched, and, for many men, symptoms were brushed off as natural signs of aging.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 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
They brushed off her concerns, she said, citing Maisa’s good grades, verbal sophistication and empathy as evidence that she couldn’t be autistic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
He tried to offer her more water, but she brushed it away.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Dyson this week unveiled an AI-powered toothbrush that it says provides a complete brushing, precision-flossing and mouth-rinsing routine at once.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Moments after Manchester City had put down their first heavyweight marker of the post-Pep Guardiola era by brushing aside Crystal Palace, he was asked live on TV how much he enjoyed the game.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Ten tackles a game last season became as routine as brushing his teeth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
After initially brushing off LLMs, DeepMind was developing its own chatbots.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 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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