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:
That ended Shearer's brief brush with management and he returned to punditry, spending his weekends travelling between Newcastle and Salford for Match of the Day.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
It was easy to brush aside the question.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
As the Orange County whale watchers were enjoying their unusual brush with warm-water orcas, a kayaker to the north had a brush with a great white shark.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
An outer buffer that slows wildfires by thinning dense trees, clearing dead brush, and breaking up continuous vegetation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
With a loud grunt, he took off through the bottoms, popping the brush.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The case marks the latest legal challenge for Peters, whose internet notoriety crossed into the mainstream after previous brushes with the law.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
While slim, Mamdani’s political biography is marked at key moments by brushes with big tech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 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
When we wonder about his Ukrainian surname, he brushes that off as irrelevant.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Dawn Celeste munches chips out of a bag, brushes the crumbs off her cushy chest.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Tech firms led heavy losses across Asian markets Tuesday as investors brushed off a rebound on Wall Street amid growing fears about the AI investment boom ahead of crunch earnings releases.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Investors brushed off stubbornly elevated Treasury yields to push equities higher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The S&P 500 was trading only marginally below its record highs on Friday, as stocks brushed off early weakness to mount a late-day comeback.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 27, 2026
And yet, Anderson’s “Resident Evil” has always been the butt of the joke, brushed off largely because his movies dared to be different when people wanted more of the same.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
I felt my cheeks burn a little in embarrassment, but I brushed it off.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
On Monday, she wrote that Silver-Fajardo was “completely immobilized and cannot lift her head much so we need to help with sips of water, eating, brushing her teeth, etc.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
All 339 Olympic events: The next Olympics is still a couple years away, but it’s not too early to start brushing up on your knowledge of the Summer Games.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
But Dyson, 79 years old, spent six years inventing an AI-powered toothbrush that promises to floss teeth at the same time as brushing them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 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
Silence except for crickets signaling, firewood snapping and popping, wind whirling and brushing bushes and leaves.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Vocabulary lists containing brush
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