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Webster 1913 Edition

Bush

Bush

(bụsh)
,
Noun.
[OE.
bosch
,
busch
,
buysch
,
bosk
,
busk
; akin to D.
bosch
, OHG.
busc
, G.
busch
, Icel.
būskr
,
būski
, Dan.
busk
, Sw.
buske
, and also to LL.
boscus
,
buscus
, Pr.
bosc
, It.
bosco
, Sp. & Pg.
bosque
, F.
bois
, OF.
bos
. Whether the LL. or G. form is the original is uncertain; if the LL., it is perh. from the same source as E.
box
a case. Cf.
Ambush
,
Boscage
,
Bouquet
,
Box
a case.]
1.
A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild forest.
☞ This was the original sense of the word, as in the Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In this sense it is extensively used in the British colonies, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and also in Australia and Canada; as, to live or settle in the bush.
2.
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.
Gascoigne.
3.
A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree;
as,
bushes
to support pea vines
.
4.
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.
Shakespeare
5.
(Hunting)
The tail, or brush, of a fox.
To beat about the bush
,
to approach anything in a round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; – a metaphor taken from hunting.
–
Bush bean
(Bot.)
,
a variety of bean which is low and requires no support (
Phaseolus vulgaris
, variety
nanus
). See
Bean
, 1.
–
Bush buck
, or
Bush goat
(Zool.)
,
a beautiful South African antelope (
Tragelaphus sylvaticus
); – so called because found mainly in wooden localities. The name is also applied to other species.
–
Bush cat
(Zool.)
,
the serval. See
Serval
.
–
Bush chat
(Zool.)
,
a bird of the genus
Pratincola
, of the Thrush family.
–
Bush dog
.
(Zool.)
See
Potto
.
–
Bush hammer
.
See
Bushhammer
in the Vocabulary.
–
Bush harrow
(Agric.)
See under
Harrow
.
–
Bush hog
(Zool.)
,
a South African wild hog (
Potamochœrus Africanus
); – called also
bush pig
, and
water hog
.
–
Bush master
(Zool.)
,
a venomous snake (
Lachesis mutus
) of Guinea; – called also
surucucu
.
–
Bush pea
(Bot.)
,
a variety of pea that needs to be bushed.
–
Bush shrike
(Zool.)
,
a bird of the genus
Thamnophilus
, and allied genera; – called also
batarg
. Many species inhabit tropical America.
–
Bush tit
(Zool.)
,
a small bird of the genus
Psaltriparus
, allied to the titmouse.
Psaltriparus minimus
inhabits California.

Bush

(bụsh)
,
Verb.
I.
To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
“The bushing alders.”
Pope.

Bush

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bushed
(bụsht);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bushing
.]
1.
To set bushes for; to support with bushes;
as, to
bush
peas
.
2.
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
.

Bush

,
Noun.
[D.
bus
a box, akin to E.
box
; or F.
boucher
to plug.]
1.
(Mech.)
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.
Knight.
☞ In the larger machines, such a piece is called a box, particularly in the United States.
2.
(Gun.)
A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.
Farrow.

Bush

,
Verb.
T.
To furnish with a bush, or lining;
as, to
bush
a pivot hole
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bush

BUSH

,
Noun.
[L. pasco, originally, to feed on sprouts.]
1.
A shrub with branches; a thick shrub; also, a cluster of shrubs. With hunters, a fox tail.
2.
An assemblage of branches interwoven.
3.
A branch of a tree fixed or hung out as a tavern sign. Hence, since the branch has been discontinued, a coronated frame of wood hung out as a tavern sign, is so called. Hence the English proverb, 'Good wine needs no bush.'
[I know not that this word is thus used in the U. States.]
4.
A circle of metal let into the sheaves of such blocks as have iron pins, to prevent their wearing.
This word when applied to sheaves is called bush, but when applied to the circular iron of a cart wheel is, in America, called a box.

BUSH

,
Verb.
I.
To grow thick or bushy.

BUSH

,
Verb.
T.
To furnish a block with a bush.

Definition 2024

Bush

Bush

See also: bush

English

Proper noun

Bush ‎(plural Bushes)

  1. A surname​.
Translations

Anagrams

bush

bush

See also: Bush

English

Noun

bush ‎(plural bushes)

  1. (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.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
  2. (slang, vulgar) A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's; loosely, a woman's ****.
    • 1749, John Cleland, Memoirs Of Fanny Hill, Gutenberg eBook #25305,
      As he stood on one side, unbuttoning his waistcoat and breeches, her fat brawny thighs hung down, and the whole greasy landscape lay fairly open to my view; a wide open mouthed gap, overshaded with a grizzly bush, seemed held out like a beggar′s wallet for its provision.
    • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 787:
      But no, the little pool of semen was there, proof positive, with droplets caught hanging in her bush.
  3. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
    bushes to support pea vines‎
  4. 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.
    • William Shakespeare
      If it be true that good wine needs no bush, 'tis true that a good play needs no epilogue.
  5. (hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.
Synonyms
  • (category of woody plant): shrub
  • See also Wikisaurus:pubic hair
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

bush ‎(third-person singular simple present bushes, present participle bushing, simple past and past participle bushed)

  1. (intransitive) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
    • 1726, Homer, Alexander Pope (translator), The Odyssey, 1839, Samuel Johnson (editor), The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., page 404,
      Around it, and above, for ever green, / The bushing alders form'd a shady scene.
  2. To set bushes for; to support with bushes.
    to bush peas
  3. 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

Etymology 2

From the sign of a bush usually employed to indicate such places.

Noun

bush ‎(plural bushes)

  1. (archaic) A tavern or wine merchant.
Derived terms

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch bosch (modern bos) ("wood, forest"), first appearing in the Dutch colonies to designate an uncleared district of a colony, and thence adopted in British colonies as bush.

Noun

bush ‎(countable and uncountable, plural bushes)

  1. (often with "the") Rural areas, typically remote, wooded, undeveloped and uncultivated.
    1. (Australia) The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations.
    2. (New Zealand) An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.
    3. (Canada) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.
  2. (Canada) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.
Derived terms
See also
Translations

Adverb

bush ‎(not comparable)

  1. (Australia) Towards the direction of the outback.
    On hatching, the chicks scramble to the surface and head bush on their own.

Etymology 4

Back-formation from bush league.

Adjective

bush ‎(comparative more bush, superlative most bush)

  1. (colloquial) Not skilled; not professional; not major league.
    They're supposed to be a major league team, but so far they've been bush.

Noun

bush ‎(plural bushes)

  1. (baseball) Amateurish behavior, short for "bush league behavior"

Etymology 5

From Middle Dutch busse 'box; wheel bushing', from Proto-Germanic *buhsiz (compare English box). More at box.

Noun

bush ‎(plural bushes)

  1. A thick washer or hollow cylinder of metal (also bushing).
  2. A mechanical attachment, usually a metallic socket with a **** thread, such as the mechanism by which a camera is attached to a tripod stand.
  3. A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Farrow to this entry?)

Verb

bush ‎(third-person singular simple present bushes, present participle bushing, simple past and past participle bushed)

  1. (transitive) To furnish with a bush or lining.
    to bush a pivot hole

Anagrams

Albanian

Alternative forms

  • bushk

Etymology 1

Either from Latin buxus id[1], or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH 'to grow' (compare Dutch bos ‎(“woods”), English bush).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bʊʃ/

Noun

bush m

  1. boxwood
  2. kind of shrub
Derived terms
  • bushtë

Etymology 2

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH ‎(“to grow”).

Noun

bush m (indefinite plural busha, definite singular bushi, definite plural bushat)

  1. a mythological monster
Derived terms
Related terms

References

  1. ↑ Orel, Vladimir (2000) A Concise Historical Grammar of the Albanian Language, Leiden: Brill, page 42

Aromanian

Alternative forms

  • bushu, bushtu

Etymology

Compare Daco-Romanian buș.

Noun

bush m ‎(plural bush) or n (plural bushi/bushe)

  1. fist

Synonyms

Etymology

Either the family name for those who live near a bush or a thicket of bushes, or the family name for those living at or near a bush (in the archaic sense of wine merchant or tavern).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bʊʃ/
  • Homophone: bush
  • Rhymes: -ʊʃ

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