brush
/bɹʌʃ/
"brush" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brush” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,828 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,828
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brush |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹʌʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,828 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brush” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for brush is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹʌʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,828 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for brush, with forms such as "bbrush", "brrush", and "brsuh". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bus", "busy", "bush", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush… The correct English form is brush, spelled B-R-U-S-H.
Definition
- 1An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes including cleaning, painting, and arranging hair.
- 2The act of brushing something.
- 3A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
- 4A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
- 5Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland.
- 6A short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience.
- 7The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
- 8A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
- 9A short contest, or trial, of speed.
- 10An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals.
- 11An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture.
- 12A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality.
- 13In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area.
- 14The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino.
- 15Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths.
Etymology
From Middle English brusshe, from Old French broisse (Modern French brosse), from Vulgar Latin *brustia, from Frankish *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (“bristle”), or also Vulgar Latin *bruscia, from Proto-Germanic *bruskaz (“tuft, thicket, underbrush”), which could be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusgo-.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbrush,brrush,brsuh,bruhs,brushh,brussh,bursh,rbush
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brush - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "brush"?
What does "brush" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "brush"?
How do you pronounce "brush"?
What is the origin of the word "brush"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “brush”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-U-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹʌʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bus” - see the side-by-side comparison. brush vs bus
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.