bush

1 of 5

noun (1)

often attributive
1
a
: shrub
especially : a low densely branched shrub
b
: a close thicket of shrubs suggesting a single plant
2
: a large uncleared or sparsely settled area (as in Australia) usually scrub-covered or forested : wilderness
usually used with the
3
a
archaic : a bunch of ivy formerly hung outside a tavern to indicate wine for sale
b
obsolete : tavern
c
: advertising
good wine needs no bushWilliam Shakespeare
4
: a bushy tuft or mass
a bush of hair
especially : brush entry 2 sense 2a
5
: minor league
usually used in plural
spent ten years in the bushes

bush

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verb

bushed; bushing; bushes

transitive verb

: to support, mark, or protect with bushes

intransitive verb

: to extend like a bush : resemble a bush

bush

3 of 5

adjective (1)

1
: having a low-growing compact bushy habit
used especially of cultivated beans
bush snap beans
2
: serving, occurring in, or used in the bush
bush planes

bush

4 of 5

noun (2)

chiefly British

bush

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adjective (2)

: falling below acceptable standards : unprofessional
bush behavior

Examples of bush in a Sentence

Noun (1) a guide who specializes in taking adventurous tourists through the bush Adjective (2) a hopelessly bush effort at creating a romantic comedy
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Midtown Manhattan appears in vivid detail, with the rest of the country—Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles—a hazy expanse of rocks, bushes, and fields on the other side of the Hudson River. Frederick Hess, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 Spread gauze on bushes to mimic cobwebs with creepy DIY spiders. Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Oct. 2024
Verb
After an incredibly busy and exhausting trip through Washington D.C. and New York City, including museums, hot muggy treks through the city, and four Broadway shows—a genuinely wonderful trip—and a full day of travel over Labor Day, I am bushed. Erik Kain, Forbes, 2 Sep. 2024
Adjective
The handy device is designed with a tri-bush system, complete with side brushes, channel brushes, and a multi-surface brushroll that work in tandem to pick up all the dirt, hair, and dander scattered around the house. Amy Schulman, PEOPLE.com, 10 July 2022 See all Example Sentences for bush 

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English bussh, bosch, buissh "woods, thicket, underbrush, shrub, underbrush concealing a hunter or fighter," later forms (probably assimilated to an Anglo-French variant of *buis, bois "woodland, wood [the material]" with a final hushing consonant) of boske, buske, going back to Old English *busc, going back to Germanic *buska- (perhaps also beside an earlier u-stem *busku-) (whence also Old Saxon -busc in brāmalbusk "bramble bush," Middle Dutch bosch, busch "forest, bunch, bundle," Old High German busc, bosc "shrub, bramble bush, thicket, grove," Old Swedish buske "bush," Old Norse [Norway] buskær, a nickname, probably "the bushy-haired one," Old Icelandic Buski, name for a dog, probably "the bristly one"), of uncertain origin; (sense 2) probably after Dutch bosch in this sense

Note: The Germanic pedigree of *buska- is relatively meager for the early periods. Old English *busc is perhaps evident in the place name Wardebusc, Veardebusc (modern Warboys in Huntingdonshire), attested in tenth-century charters, though Ekwall (Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names) took it as of Scandinavian origin. The Old High German forms are attested only in glosses from the twelfth century or later. An earlier opinion, propounded in Skeat and the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, was that the Germanic words were borrowed from "Late Latin"; however, Latin boscus "wood, woodland"—the form buscus is less frequent—is not attested before the early eighth century. The genuine depth of Germanic attestation for *buska- and congeners was thoroughly explicated by Johannes Hubschmied in "Romanisch-germanische Wortprobleme I. Zur Geschichte von bois, bûche (mit Berücksichtigung der Ortsnamen)," Vox Romanica, Band 29 (1970), pp. 82-122, 283-302. There now seems little question that the etymon is Germanic, and that corresponding Romance words are borrowed from Germanic. Note that beside *busk- a form *bosk- is evident in Middle English and elsewhere, especially Romance. Hubschmied explains *busk- as an outcome in an original u-stem, with *bosk- resulting from lowering before a non-high vowel in the next syllable; alternatively, the -u- could simply result from failure of lowering. Also widespread in Middle English, especially east midland and northern, and in early Scots, are forms without palatalized sk, as bosk(e), buske (compare bosky), which have been attributed both to Old Norse and to Anglo-French bosc. See also boiserie, boscage, bosquet and bouquet, and compare ambush entry 1.

Verb

derivative of bush entry 1

Adjective (1)

from attributive use of bush entry 1

Noun (2)

Dutch bus bushing, box, from Middle Dutch busse box, from Late Latin buxis — more at box entry 1

Adjective (2)

short for bush-league

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Adjective (1)

1595, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1566, in the meaning defined above

Adjective (2)

1959, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bush was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near bush

Cite this Entry

“Bush.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bush. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

bush

noun
ˈbu̇sh
1
: shrub
especially : a low densely branched shrub
2
: a stretch of uncleared or lightly settled country
3
: a bushy tuft or mass

Biographical Definition

Bush 1 of 3

biographical name (1)

George (Herbert Walker) 1924–2018 American politician; vice president of the U.S. (1981–89); 41st president of the U.S. (1989–93)

Bush

2 of 3

biographical name (2)

George W(alker) 1946–     son of George H. W. Bush American politician; 43rd president of the U.S. (2001–09)

Bush

3 of 3

biographical name (3)

Van*ne*var və-ˈnē-vər How to pronounce Bush (audio) 1890–1974 American electrical engineer

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