• Bush

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /bʊʃ/
    • Rhymes: -ʊʃ

    Origin 1

    From Middle English busch, busshe, from Old English busc, bysc ("copse, grove, scrub", in placenames.), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz ("bush, thicket"), probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ("to grow"). Cognate with West Frisian bosk ("woods"), Dutch bos ("woods"), German Busch ("bush"), Danish busk ("bush, shrub"), Swedish buske ("bush, shrub"), Persian بیشه ("woods"). Latin and Romance forms (Latin boscus, Occitan bòsc, French bois and buisson, Italian bosco and boscaglia, Spanish bosque, Portuguese bosque) derive from the Germanic. The sense 'pubic hair' was first attested in 1745.

    Full definition of bush

    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, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, 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) A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's; loosely, a woman's vulva.
      • 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 ShakespeareIf 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

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from "bush"

    Verb

    1. (intransitive) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
      • 1726, Homer, (translator), , 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

    Origin 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

    Origin 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 bushs)
    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. (Canadian) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.
      4. (Canadian) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.

    Derived terms

    Adjective

    bush

    1. The noun "bush", used attributively.The bush vote; bush party; bush tucker; bush aristocracy; bush tea

    Adverb

    bush

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

    Origin 4

    Back-formation from {{3}}

    Adjective

    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"The way that pitcher showed up the batter after the strikeout was bush.

    Origin 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 screw 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.

    Verb

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

    Anagrams

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