brush
/bɹʌʃ/noun, verb
brush is spelled B-R-U-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brush means “An implement consisting of multiple more or less flexible bristles or other filaments attached to a handle, used for any of various purposes…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brush is brushes.
How many letters and syllables are in brush?
| Letters | 5: B-R-U-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 17 times per million words; the 4,838th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is brush?
Brush appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brush?
- US /bɹʌʃ/
- Australia /bɹɐʃ/
- /bɹʊʃ/
Brush has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brush.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with brush?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as brush from its last stressed vowel (/ʌʃ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shrub.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of brush
- brushes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- brushing participle, present
- brushed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brush mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
The act of brushing something.
She gave her hair a quick brush.
- 3
A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
- 4
A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
- 5
Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland.
We broke away toward the north, the tribe howling on our track. Across the open spaces we gained, and in the brush they caught up with us, and more than once it was nip and tuck.
- 6
A short, possibly recurrent encounter or experience.
brush with death
- 7
The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
- 8
A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
verb
- 1
To clean with a brush.
Brush your teeth.
- 2
To untangle or arrange with a brush.
Brush your hair.
- 3
To apply with a brush.
I am brushing the paint onto the walls.
- 4
To remove with a sweeping motion.
She brushed the flour off my clothes.
- 5
To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing.
Her scarf brushed his skin.
- 6
To clean one's teeth by brushing them.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brush in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | brosse , brossage , buisson , accrochage , brosser , se brosser |
| German | Bürste, (paint-) Pinsel , Busch, Gebüsch, Gestrüpp , putzen |
| Portuguese | brocha, escova, pincel , escovada, escovamento , escovar |
| Spanish | pincel, cepillo, escobilla, brocha, sedera, bruza |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does brush come from?
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-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).