bush

¹

[ boosh ]

noun

1. a low plant with many branches that arise from or near the ground.
2. a small cluster of shrubs appearing as a single plant.
3. something resembling or suggesting this, as a thick, shaggy head of hair.
4. Also called bush lot. Canadian. a small, wooded lot, especially a farm lot with trees left standing to provide firewood, fence posts, etc.
5. the tail of a fox; brush.
6. Geography. a stretch of uncultivated land covered with mixed plant growth, bushy vegetation, trees, etc.
7. a large uncleared area thickly covered with mixed plant growth, trees, etc., as a jungle.
8. a large, sparsely populated area most of which is uncleared, as areas of Australia and Alaska.
9. a tree branch hung as a sign before a tavern or vintner's shop.
10. any tavern sign.
11. Slang: Vulgar. pubic hair.
12. Archaic. a wineshop.

verb (used without object)

1. to be or become bushy; branch or spread as or like a bush.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover, protect, support, or mark with a bush or bushes.

adjective

1. bush-league.

bush

²

[ boosh ]

noun

1. a lining of metal or the like set into an orifice to guard against wearing by friction, erosion, etc.
2. bushing ( def 2 ).

verb (used with object)

1. to furnish with a bush; line with metal.

Bush

³

[ boosh ]

noun

1. Barbara Barbara Pierce, 1925–2018, U.S. First Lady 1989–93 (wife of George H. W. Bush and mother of George W. Bush).
2. George (Herbert Walker), 1924–2018, U.S. politician: vice president 1981–89; 41st president of the United States 1989–93.
3. George W(alker), born 1946, U.S. businessman and politician: governor of Texas 1994–2001; 43rd president of the United States 2001–09 (son of George H. W. Bush).
4. Laura Laura Lane Welch, born 1946, U.S. First Lady 2001–09 (wife of George W. Bush).
5. Van·ne·var [v, uh, -, nee, -vahr, -ver], 1890–1974, U.S. electrical engineer: education and research administrator.

bush.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. bushel; bushels.

Bush

¹

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. BushGeorge1924MUSPOLITICS: head of state George . born 1924, US Republican politician; vice president of the US (1981–89): 41st president of the US (1989–93)
2. BushGeorge W(alker.)1946MUSPOLITICS: head of state his son, George W ( alker ). born 1946, US Republican politician; 43rd president of the US (2001–09)

bush

²

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. Also called (esp US and Canadian)bushing a thin metal sleeve or tubular lining serving as a bearing or guide

verb

1. to fit a bush to (a casing, bearing, etc)

bush

³

/ bʊʃ /

noun

1. a dense woody plant, smaller than a tree, with many branches arising from the lower part of the stem; shrub
2. a dense cluster of such shrubs; thicket
3. something resembling a bush, esp in density

   a bush of hair

4. 1. an uncultivated or sparsely settled area, esp in Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada: usually covered with trees or shrubs, varying from open shrubby country to dense rainforest
   2. ( as modifier )

      bush flies

5. an area of land on a farm on which timber is grown and cut Also calledbush lotwoodlot
6. a forested area; woodland
7. the bush informal.
   the countryside, as opposed to the city

   out in the bush

8. a fox's tail; brush
9. obsolete.
   1. a bunch of ivy hung as a vintner's sign in front of a tavern
   2. any tavern sign
10. beat about the bush
    to avoid the point at issue; prevaricate

adjective

1. informal.
   rough-and-ready
2. informal.
   ignorant or stupid, esp as considered typical of unwesternized rustic life
3. informal.
   unprofessional, unpolished, or second-rate
4. go bush informal.
   1. to abandon city amenities and live rough
   2. to run wild

verb

1. intr to grow thick and bushy
2. tr to cover, decorate, support, etc, with bushes
3. bush it
   tr to camp out in the bush

Other Words From

• bush·less adjective
• bush·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bush¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English busshe, Old English busc (in placenames); cognate with Dutch bos “wood,” German Busch “bush,” Medieval Latin boscus “wood” (compare French bois, Italian bosco, Portuguese, Spanish bosque ), Old Norse buskr “bush”

Origin of bush²

First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle Dutch bussche; box ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of bush¹

C15: from Middle Dutch busse box, bush; related to German Büchse tin, Swedish hjulbōssa wheel-box, Late Latin buxis box ¹

Origin of bush²

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse buski , Old High German busc , Middle Dutch bosch ; related to Old French bosc wood, Italian bosco

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. beat the bushes, to scout or search for persons or things far and wide:

   I've been beating the bushes for a skilled, honest, inexpensive renovator.

2. beat around / about the bush, to avoid coming to the point; delay in approaching a subject directly:

   Stop beating around the bush and tell me what you want.

3. go bush, Australian.
   1. to flee or escape into the bush.
   2. Slang. to become wild.

More idioms and phrases containing bush

see beat around the bush ; beat the bushes for ; bright-eyed and bushy-tailed .

Example Sentences

Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said that immediately adjourning the Senate at the new president’s direction would signal a dark day for the country.

From Los Angeles Times

Like John Ashcroft, who was attorney general under George W. Bush, Sessions was a former partisan who took his institutional role and oath of office seriously once he became attorney general.

From Los Angeles Times

There were also stints with the National Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, the CIA and the White House, where he served as a homeland security specialist under George W. Bush.

From Los Angeles Times

"I've thought before that it was a harder job than the presidency," Lincoln Bloomfield, who served in the Pentagon under Presidents George W Bush and Ronald Reagan, told the BBC.

From BBC

For next 40 years, he worked there, except for a four-year stint as U.S. solicitor general representing the Bush administration.

From Los Angeles Times