bottlebrush

American  

[bot-l-bruhsh] / ˈbɒt lˌbrʌʃ /

noun

Botany.

1. any of various trees or shrubs of the myrtle family, especially of the genera Callistemon and Melaleuca, native to Australia and adjacent areas, having spikes of flowers with numerous conspicuous stamens.

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bottlebrush British  

/ ˈbɒtəlˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. a cylindrical brush on a thin shaft, used for cleaning bottles

2. Also called: callistemon.  any of various Australian myrtaceous shrubs or trees of the genera Callistemon and Melaleuca , having dense spikes of large red flowers with protruding brushlike stamens

3. any of various similar trees or shrubs

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Etymology

Origin of bottlebrush

1705–15; bottle ¹ + brush ¹; so called from the resemblance of the flower spike to a brush used for cleaning bottles, with bristles on all sides of a central stem

Example Sentences

Like many of the novel materials developed in Cai's lab, the foldable bottlebrush polymer is designed to be 3D-printable.

From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2024

Then they added bottlebrush trees, animal figurines and little log cabins.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2023

The TreePeople team, caring mostly for drought-tolerant species like gold medallion tree, Chitalpa, and lemon bottlebrush, recommends 15 gallons, poured slowly onto the base of the tree, every week for the first three years.

From Salon • Oct. 26, 2022

California wild grapevines will eventually grow along the rebar awning, and colorful dwarf bottlebrush will fill in to create a more formal low hedge.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2015

They had only gone a few paces when Hermione’s bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting out of the garden, bottlebrush tail held high in the air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling