brushing

/ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ/

//ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"brushing" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brushing” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,908. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,908
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - present participle and gerund of brush

Corpus desk

Index EN-brushing · brushing · English

brushing · rank #14,908 · 13 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,908
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH broccoli

Nearest frequency peer: broccoli (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “brushing”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “brushing” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

brushing vs busting
75% similar
brushing vs bushing
88% similar
brushing vs bashing
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for brushing
PropertyValue
Headwordbrushing
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#14,908
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “brushing”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).brushinglands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “broccoli” (#14,907), “buckle” (#14,910), “bridal” (#14,905). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brushing” is #14,908. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around brushing (IPA /ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #14,908 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "present participle and gerund of brush".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for brushing, with forms such as "bbrushing", "brrushing", and "brsuhing". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "busting", "bushing", "bashing", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is brushing, spelled B-R-U-S-H-I-N-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of brush

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbrushing
  • brrushing
  • brsuhing
  • bruhsing
  • brushhing
  • brushign
  • brushingg
  • brushinng
  • brushnig
  • brusihng
  • brusshing
  • burshing
  • rbushing

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brushing - 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.

bbrushing1brrushing1brsuhing2bruhsing2brushhing1brushign2brushingg1brushinng1
Edit distance from "brushing"

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 "brushing"?
"brushing" is spelled B-R-U-S-H-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ/.
What does "brushing" mean?
As a verb, "brushing" means: present participle and gerund of brush
What words are commonly confused with "brushing"?
"brushing" is commonly confused with "busting", "bushing", "bashing". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brushing"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brushing" is /ˈbɹʌʃ.ɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brushing" come from?
"brushing" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "brushing", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

broccoli#14,907bohemian#14,899clueless#14,921Barbados#14,892

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

correlated13 variantsaugmented13 variantsancestry13 variantsallegation13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list