Brush vs. Bush: What's the Difference?
Edited by Harlon Moss || By Janet White || Updated on October 7, 2023
A brush is a tool with bristles, while a bush is a woody shrub or small tree.
Key Differences
"Brush" and "Bush" may sound similar, but their meanings diverge considerably. A brush is primarily known as a device with bristles, wire, or hair. Whether for painting, cleaning, or grooming, brushes serve many functions. On the other hand, a bush refers to a short, woody plant that is denser than a shrub but not tall enough to be a tree.
Exploring the diverse applications of a brush, we find tools used in art, hygiene, and cleaning. Brushes assist artists in applying paint to canvases, help individuals maintain hair or dental hygiene, and aid in scrubbing surfaces clean. Conversely, a bush is a mainstay in gardens and natural landscapes, providing aesthetic appeal or sometimes bearing fruits.
The etymology of both words also offers insights. "Brush" is derived from Old French "brosse" referring to a handful of twigs, which is interesting considering its current use. "Bush," however, traces its origin to Old English "busc" and Old Norse "buskr," both implying a shrub or underwood.
While "brush" can also denote a light touch or a brief encounter, as in "a brush with danger," the word "bush" can represent wild, undeveloped country areas or wilderness. This further underscores the breadth of meanings each term holds.
Comparison Chart
Primary Definition
A tool with bristles
A woody shrub or small tree
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Use
Painting, grooming, cleaning
Landscaping, wilderness, fruit-bearing
Derived From
Old French "brosse"
Old English "busc"
Additional Meanings
A light touch or encounter
Undeveloped areas or wilderness
Physical Characteristics
Typically has a handle
Grows from the ground, has branches and leaves
Brush and Bush Definitions
Brush
Thick undergrowth or shrubs
They walked through the dense brush in the forest.
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Bush
A woody plant, smaller than a tree
The rose bush bloomed beautifully in spring.
Brush
A tool with stiff hairs or bristles
She used a brush to apply her makeup.
Bush
A wild or uncultivated country area
They went camping in the bush for a week.
Brush
An implement typically consisting of bristles fastened into a handle, used in scrubbing, polishing, grooming, or applying a liquid.
Bush
Dense hair or fur
His thick bush of a beard stood out.
Brush
The act of using this implement.
Bush
A metal lining or bushing
The motor's bush needs to be lubricated.
Brush
A sweeping stroke of the hand, as in removing something.
Bush
A low shrub with many branches.
Brush
A light touch in passing; a graze.
Bush
A thick growth of shrubs; a thicket.
Brush
An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous
A brush with the law.
A brush with death.
Bush
Land covered with dense vegetation or undergrowth.
Brush
A bushy tail
The brush of a fox.
Bush
Land remote from settlement
The Australian bush.
Brush
A sliding connection completing a circuit between a fixed and a moving conductor.
Bush
A shaggy mass, as of hair.
Brush
A snub; a brushoff.
Bush
Vulgar Slang A growth of pubic hair.
Brush
Dense vegetation consisting of shrubs or small trees.
Bush
A fox's tail.
Brush
Land covered by such a growth.
Bush
(Archaic) A clump of ivy hung outside a tavern to indicate the availability of wine inside.
Brush
Cut or broken branches.
Bush
(Obsolete) A tavern.
Brush
To clean, polish, or groom with a brush
Brush one's teeth.
Brush the dog's coat.
Bush
To grow or branch out like a bush.
Brush
To apply with a brush
Brushed shellac onto the wood.
Bush
To extend in a bushy growth.
Brush
To remove with a brush or with sweeping strokes
Brushed dirt from his pants.
Bush
To decorate, protect, or support with bushes.
Brush
To touch lightly in passing; graze against.
Bush
To furnish or line with a bushing.
Brush
To use a brush.
Bush
(Slang) Bush-league; second-rate
"Reviewers here have tended to see in him a kind of bush D.H. Lawrence" (Saturday Review).
Brush
To make sweeping strokes with the hand.
Bush
(horticulture) A woody plant distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, being usually less than six metres tall; a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category.
Brush
To touch something lightly in moving past.
Bush
A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
Bushes to support pea vines
Brush
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.
Bush
(historical) A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself.
Brush
The act of brushing something.
She gave her hair a quick brush.
Bush
A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's.
Brush
A piece of conductive material, usually carbon, serving to maintain electrical contact between the stationary and rotating parts of a machine.
Bush
(hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.
Brush
A brush-like electrical discharge of sparks.
Bush
(archaic) A tavern or wine merchant.
Brush
(uncountable) Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees. See shrubland.
Bush
(often with "the") Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated.
Brush
A short and sometimes occasional encounter or experience.
He has had brushes with communism from time to time.
Bush
(Australia) The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations.
Brush
The furry tail of an animal, especially of a fox.
Bush
(New Zealand) An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.
Brush
(zoology) A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
Bush
(Canadian) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.
Brush
(archaic) A short contest, or trial, of speed.
Bush
(Canadian) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.
Brush
(music) An instrument, resembling a brush, used to produce a soft sound from drums or cymbals.
Bush
(baseball) Amateurish behavior, short for "bush league behavior"
Brush
(computer graphics) An on-screen tool for "painting" a particular colour or texture.
Bush
A thick washer or hollow cylinder of metal.
Brush
(computer graphics) A set of defined design and parameters that produce drawn strokes of a certain texture and quality.
Downloading brushes for Photoshop
Bush
A mechanical attachment, usually a metallic socket with a screw thread, such as the mechanism by which a camera is attached to a tripod stand.
Brush
(video games) In 3D video games, a convex polyhedron, especially one that defines structure of the play area.
Bush
A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.
Brush
The floorperson of a poker room, usually in a casino.
Bush
(intransitive) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
Brush
Evergreen boughs, especially balsam, locally cut and baled for export, usually for use in making wreaths.
Bush
To set bushes for; to support with bushes.
To bush peas
Brush
(transitive) To clean with a brush.
Brush your teeth.
Bush
To use a bush harrow on (land), for covering seeds sown; to harrow with a bush.
To bush a piece of land; to bush seeds into the ground
Brush
(transitive) To untangle or arrange with a brush.
Brush your hair.
Bush
To become bushy (often used with up).
I can tell when my cat is upset because he'll bush up his tail.
Brush
(transitive) To apply with a brush.
I am brushing the paint onto the walls.
Bush
(transitive) To furnish with a bush or lining; to line.
To bush a pivot hole
Brush
(transitive) To remove with a sweeping motion.
'She brushes the flour off your clothes.
Bush
(Australia) Towards the direction of the outback.
On hatching, the chicks scramble to the surface and head bush on their own.
Brush
(ambitransitive) To touch with a sweeping motion, or lightly in passing.
Her scarf brushed his skin.
Bush
(colloquial) Not skilled; not professional; not major league.
They're supposed to be a major league team, but so far they've been bush.
Brush
(intransitive) To clean one's teeth by brushing them.
Bush
A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild forest.
Brush
An instrument composed of bristles, or other like material, set in a suitable back or handle, as of wood, bone, or ivory, and used for various purposes, as in removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, etc. Brushes have different shapes and names according to their use; as, clothes brush, paint brush, tooth brush, etc.
Bush
A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.
To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling flowers.
Brush
The bushy tail of a fox.
Bush
A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as, bushes to support pea vines.
Brush
A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
Bush
A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself.
If it be true that good wine needs no bush, 't is true that a good play needs no epilogue.
Brush
Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood.
Bush
The tail, or brush, of a fox.
Brush
A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small trees in a wood; underbrush.
Bush
A lining for a hole to make it smaller; a thimble or ring of metal or wood inserted in a plate or other part of machinery to receive the wear of a pivot or arbor.
Brush
Land covered with brush{5}; in Australia, a dense growth of vegetation in good soil, including shrubs and trees, mostly small.
Bush
A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.
Brush
A bundle of flexible wires or thin plates of metal, used to conduct an electrical current to or from the commutator of a dynamo, electric motor, or similar apparatus.
Bush
To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
Brush
The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush; a rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as, we got a brush from the wheel as it passed.
[As leaves] have with one winter's brushFell from their boughts.
Bush
To set bushes for; to support with bushes; as, to bush peas.
Brush
A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy; a brush with the law.
Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong,And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.
Bush
To use a bush harrow on (land), for covering seeds sown; to harrow with a bush; as, to bush a piece of land; to bush seeds into the ground.
Brush
A short contest, or trial, of speed.
Let us enjoy a brush across the country.
Bush
To furnish with a bush, or lining; as, to bush a pivot hole.
Brush
To apply a brush to, according to its particular use; to rub, smooth, clean, paint, etc., with a brush.
Bush
A low woody perennial plant usually having several major branches
Brush
To touch in passing, or to pass lightly over, as with a brush.
Some spread their sailes, some with strong oars sweepThe waters smooth, and brush the buxom wave.
Brushed with the kiss of rustling wings.
Bush
A large wilderness area
Brush
To remove or gather by brushing, or by an act like that of brushing, or by passing lightly over, as wind; - commonly with off.
As wicked dew as e'er my mother brushedWith raven's feather from unwholesome fen.
And from the boughts brush off the evil dew.
You have commissioned me to paint your shop, and I have done my best to brush you up like your neighbors.
Bush
Dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes
Brush
To move nimbly in haste; to move so lightly as scarcely to be perceived; as, to brush by.
Snatching his hat, he brushed off like the wind.
Bush
43rd President of the United States; son of George Herbert Walker Bush (born in 1946)
Brush
A dense growth of bushes
Bush
United States electrical engineer who designed an early analogue computer and who led the scientific program of the United States during World War II (1890-1974)
Brush
An implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle
Bush
Vice President under Reagan and 41st President of the United States (born in 1924)
Brush
Momentary contact
Bush
Hair growing in the pubic area
Brush
Conducts current between rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor
Bush
Provide with a bushing
Brush
A minor short-term fight
Bush
Not of the highest quality or sophistication
Brush
The act of brushing your teeth;
The dentist recommended two brushes a day
Bush
Something resembling a shrub, like a tuft
She tied her hair into a small bush at the back.
Brush
The act of brushing your hair;
He gave his hair a quick brush
Brush
Contact with something dangerous or undesirable;
I had a brush with danger on my way to work
He tried to avoid any brushes with the police
Brush
Rub with a brush, or as if with a brush;
Johnson brushed the hairs from his jacket
Brush
Touch lightly and briefly;
He brushed the wall lightly
Brush
Clean with a brush;
She brushed the suit before hanging it back into the closet
Brush
Sweep across or over;
Her long skirt brushed the floor
A gasp swept cross the audience
Brush
Remove with or as if with a brush;
Brush away the crumbs
Brush the dust from the jacket
Brush aside the objections
Brush
Cover by brushing;
Brush the bread with melted butter
Brush
A brief encounter or skirmish
He had a brush with the law in his youth.
Brush
A light touch or stroke
She felt the brush of his hand against hers.
Brush
An implement for electrical or mechanical operations
The motor's brush needs replacement.
FAQs
Can "brush" refer to vegetation?
Yes, it can denote thick undergrowth or shrubs.
Are all brushes used for painting?
No, brushes have varied uses, including grooming and cleaning.
Are brush and bush interchangeable?
No, they have distinct meanings: one's a tool, the other's a plant.
Is a bush always smaller than a tree?
Typically, yes. Bushes are denser and shorter than trees.
Do brushes always have bristles?
Most do, but the "bristles" can vary from hair to wire.
Can "bush" mean an undeveloped area?
Yes, especially in places like Australia, "bush" refers to wilderness.
Are bushes always woody?
Generally, yes. They have woody stems unlike herbaceous plants.
Can bushes bear fruits?
Yes, many bushes like blueberry and raspberry bushes bear fruits.
How is "brush" used in a mechanical context?
It can refer to a device, like a carbon brush in motors.
What's a "brush with danger"?
It's a phrase meaning a brief encounter with a dangerous situation.
Do all bushes flower?
No, but many types of bushes produce flowers.
What's the difference between a brush for hair and for teeth?
A hairbrush detangles and styles hair, while a toothbrush cleans teeth.
Can "bush" refer to hair?
Yes, in informal terms, it can mean a thick growth of hair.
What materials make brush bristles?
Bristles can be synthetic, animal hair, or even metal wires.
How do you maintain a healthy bush in a garden?
Regular watering, pruning, and pest control can help.
Are there brushes in electrical machines?
Yes, some motors use carbon brushes for electrical conduction.
Are there bushes in the desert?
Yes, some bushes are adapted to arid conditions.
Can "brush" mean a slight contact?
Yes, as in "a brush of his hand against hers."
Can "bush" be used as a verb?
Yes, in engineering, it can mean fitting with a bushing.
How are brushes used in art?
They're tools for applying paint, ink, or other mediums to surfaces.
About Author
Written by
Janet WhiteJanet White has been an esteemed writer and blogger for Difference Wiki. Holding a Master's degree in Science and Medical Journalism from the prestigious Boston University, she has consistently demonstrated her expertise and passion for her field. When she's not immersed in her work, Janet relishes her time exercising, delving into a good book, and cherishing moments with friends and family.
Edited by
Harlon MossHarlon is a seasoned quality moderator and accomplished content writer for Difference Wiki. An alumnus of the prestigious University of California, he earned his degree in Computer Science. Leveraging his academic background, Harlon brings a meticulous and informed perspective to his work, ensuring content accuracy and excellence.
