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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
A bush (woody plant)
From Middle English bush , from Old English busċ , *bysċ ( “ copse, grove, scrub ” , in placenames ) , from Proto-West Germanic *busk , from Proto-Germanic *buskaz ( “ bush, thicket ” ) , probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ( “ to grow ” ) .
Cognate with West Frisian bosk ( “ forest ” ) , Dutch bos ( “ forest ” ) , German Busch ( “ bush ” ) , Danish and Norwegian busk ( “ bush, shrub ” ) , Swedish buske ( “ bush, shrub ” ) , Persian بیشه ( bêša/biše , “ woods ” ) . Latin and Romance forms (Latin boscus , Occitan bòsc , French bois , bûche and buisson , Italian bosco and boscaglia , Spanish bosque , Portuguese bosque ) derive from the Germanic. The sense 'pubic hair' was first attested in 1745.
Noun
bush (plural bushes )
( 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 .
Synonym: shrub
1913 , Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln , chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients , New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company , →OCLC :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.
A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
bushes to support pea vines
( historical ) 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.
c. 1598–1600 (date written) , William Shakespeare , “As You Like It ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :If it be true that good wine needs no bush , 'tis true that a good play needs no epilogue.
1837 , L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon ], “Chapter IV. The Fête.”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. , volume II, London: Henry Colburn , , →OCLC , page 31 :"Well," replied Lady Mary, "who is to know where good wine is sold, unless you hang out the bush ."
( slang , vulgar ) A person's pubic hair , especially a woman's.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pubic hair
1749 , [John Cleland ], “(Please specify the letter or volume) ”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill ], London: G. Fenton , →OCLC :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.
1941 , Henry Miller , Under the Roofs of Paris (Opus Pistorum) , New York: Grove Press, published 1983 , page 27 :I rub her bush with my cheek and my chin, tickle her bonne-bouche with my tongue.
1982 , Lawrence Durrell , Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004 , page 787 :But no, the little pool of semen was there, proof positive, with droplets caught hanging in her bush .
2002 , “The Seed (2.0)”, in Phrenology , performed by The Roots :I push my seed in her bush for life / It's gonna work because I'm pushing it right
( hunting ) The tail , or brush , of a fox .
Derived terms
Translations
category of woody plant
Afrikaans: bos (af) , bosse
Albanian: shkurre (sq) f , ferrëkuqe (sq) f , gëmushë (sq) f
Amharic: please add this translation if you can
Anjam: ñañu
Arabic: شَجْيْرَة f ( šajyra )
Egyptian Arabic: جب m ( gubb )
Aragonese: arbuzo (an) m
Armenian: թուփ (hy) ( tʻupʻ )
Aromanian: tufã f
Assamese: জোপোহা ( züpüha )
Asturian: arbustu (ast) m
Azerbaijani: bürmə , kol (az)
Bashkir: ҡыуаҡ ( qıwaq )
Basque: zuhaixka (eu)
Belarusian: куст m ( kust )
Bengali: গুল্ম (bn) ( gulmo )
Bulgarian: храст (bg) m ( hrast )
Burmese: ချုံ (my) ( hkyum )
Catalan: arbust (ca) m
Central Franconian: Bösch
Cherokee: ᏚᏩᏱᏢ ( duwayitlv )
Chinese:
Cantonese: please add this translation if you can
Mandarin: 灌木 (zh) ( guànmù )
Czech: keř (cs) m
Danish: busk (da)
Dutch: struik (nl) , heester (nl)
Egyptian: (kꜣkꜣ )
Esperanto: arbetaĵo
Estonian: põõsas (et)
Faroese: runnur m
Finnish: pensas (fi)
French: buisson (fr) m , arbrisseau (fr) m
Old French: buison m
Friulian: please add this translation if you can
Galician: gamallo m , garamallo m , albustre m , arbusto (gl) m , frundío m , mato m , matogueira f
Georgian: ბუჩქი ( bučki )
German: Strauch (de) m , Busch (de) m
Greek: θάμνος (el) m ( thámnos )
Ancient: θάμνος m ( thámnos )
Greenlandic: orpikkat , orpigaq
Gujarati: ઝાડવું n ( jhāḍvũ )
Hebrew: שִׂיחַ (he) m ( siakh )
Hindi: झाड़ी (hi) f ( jhāṛī )
Hungarian: bokor (hu)
Icelandic: runni (is) m
Indonesian: semak (id)
Irish: tor m , tom m
Italian: arbusto (it) m , cespuglio (it) m
Japanese: 灌木 (ja) ( かんぼく, kanboku ) , 低木 (ja) ( ていぼく, teiboku ) , 茂み (ja) ( しげみ, shigemi ) ( thicket )
Kannada: ಪೊದೆ (kn) ( pode )
Kazakh: бұта ( būta )
Khmer: គុម្ពោត (km) ( kumpout ) , គុម្ព (km) ( kum ) , គុម្ពព្រឹក្ស ( kum prɨk )
Korean: 수풀 (ko) ( supul ) , 관목(灌木) (ko) ( gwanmok )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: devî (ku) f , teraş (ku) f
Kyrgyz: бадал (ky) ( badal )
Lao: ພຸ່ມໄມ້ ( phum mai )
Latgalian: kryums
Latin: dūmus m , frutex m
Latvian: krūms (lv) m
Lithuanian: krūmas (lt) m
Livonian: pȭzõ
Low German: Struuk m , Busch m
Luxembourgish: Trausch m , Strauch m
Macedonian: грму́шка f ( grmúška ) , џбун m ( džbun )
Malagasy: kirihitra (mg)
Malay: semak (ms) , belukar (ms)
Malayalam: കുറ്റിച്ചെടി (ml) ( kuṟṟicceṭi )
Maltese: arbuxxell m
Maori: please add this translation if you can
Mapudungun: retron
Mari:
Eastern Mari: вондо ( vondo )
Western Mari: тӹшкӓ ( tÿškä )
Northern Mansi: (please verify ) нирсяхыл ( nirsâhyl )
Norwegian: busk (no) m , buske f , runn m
Occitan: arbust (oc) m
Odia: ବୁଦା (or) ( buda )
Old Turkic: 𐰃 ( i /ï/ )
Pashto: please add this translation if you can
Persian: بوته (fa) ( bute )
Plautdietsch: Bosch n
Polish: krzak (pl) m , krzew (pl) m
Portuguese: arbusto (pt) m , moita (pt) f
Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
Romanian: arbust (ro) m , tufă (ro) , tufiș de arbuști
Russian: куст (ru) m ( kust ) , куста́рник (ru) m ( kustárnik )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: грм m , жбун m
Roman: grm (sh) m , žbun (sh) m
Sinhalese: අකුල ( akula )
Slovak: ker (sk) m , krík m
Slovene: grm (sl) m
Spanish: arbusto (es) m
Swahili: kichaka (sw)
Swedish: buske (sv) c
Tagalog: palumpong
Tajik: бутта ( butta )
Tamil: புதர் (ta) ( putar )
Tatar: куак (tt) ( quwaq )
Telugu: పొద (te) ( poda )
Thai: ไม้พุ่ม (th) ( máai-pûm ) , พุ่ม (th) ( pûm )
Turkish: çalı (tr)
Turkmen: gyrymsylyk
Udmurt: куак ( kuak )
Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎈𐎚 ( šḥt )
Ukrainian: кущ m ( kušč )
Urdu: جھاڑی f ( jhāṛī )
Uzbek: buta (uz)
Vietnamese: cây bụi
Volapük: bimül (vo)
Walloon: bouxhon (wa) m
Welsh: llwyn (cy) m
Yiddish: קוסט m ( kust )
Zulu: isihlahla (zu) class 7 /8
pubic hair
Assamese: বাল ( bal ) , গুপ্তকেশ ( guptokex ) , কামকেশ ( kamkex ) , যৌনকেশ ( zounokex )
Bulgarian: катеричка f ( katerička )
Dutch: bosje (nl) n , schaamhaar (nl) n
Finnish: karvat pl , puska (fi) , tuhero (fi)
French: touffe (fr) f , persil (fr) m , toison (fr)
Galician: pentello m
Greek: θάμνος (el) m ( thámnos )
Indonesian: jembut (id) ( vulgar )
Italian: pelo pubico m , cespuglio (it) m
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: rêv (ku) c pl
Russian: ( slang ) волосня́ (ru) f ( volosnjá )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: шумица f
Roman: šumica (sh) f
Spanish: vello púbico m , pelos púbicos m pl , pendejos (es) m pl ( vulgar )
Swedish: buske (sv) c
Verb
bush (third-person singular simple present bushes , present participle bushing , simple past and past participle bushed )
( intransitive ) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
1726 , Homer , “The Odyssey ”, in Alexander Pope , transl., edited by Samuel Johnson, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq. , published 1839 , page 404 :Around it, and above, for ever green, / The bushing alders form'd a shady scene.
To set bushes for; to support with bushes.
to bush peas
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
To become bushy (often used with up ).
I can tell when my cat is upset because he'll bush up his tail.
Etymology 2
From the sign of a bush usually employed to indicate such places.
Noun
bush (plural bushes )
( archaic ) A tavern or wine merchant .
Derived terms
Etymology 3
From older 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 . Could alternatively be interpreted as a semantic loan, as bush (etymology 1) is cognate to the aforementioned archaic Dutch bosch .
Noun
bush (countable and uncountable , plural bushes )
( often with "the" ) Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated .
1899 February, Joseph Conrad , “The Heart of Darkness ”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine , volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, , →OCLC , part I, page 199 :Mad terror had scattered them, men, women, and children, through the bush , and they had never returned.
( Australia ) The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback ; loosely , areas of natural flora even within conurbations .
1894 , Henry Lawson , “We Called Him “Ally” for Short”, in Short Stories in Prose and Verse :I remember, about five years ago, I was greatly annoyed by a ghost, while doing a job of fencing in the bush between here and Perth.
2000 , Robert Holden, Paul Cliff, Jack Bedson, The Endless Playground: Celebrating Australian Childhood , page 16 :The theme of children lost in the bush is a well-worked one in Australian art and literature.
2021 September 6, “Australian farmers under pressure from climate change”, in Australian Herald :The findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggest Australia may have to jettison tracts of the bush unless there is a massive investment in climate-change adaptation and planning.
( New Zealand ) An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.
( Canada ) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry .
( Canada ) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.
Derived terms
Terms derived from bush (Etymology 3)
Related terms
bushman (not derived from bush but separately derived from cognate Dutch)
Descendants
Translations
remote undeveloped and uncultivated rural area
See also
Adverb
bush (not comparable )
( 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 )
( 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
( baseball ) Amateurish behavior, short for "bush league behavior"
Etymology 5
From Middle Dutch busse ( “ box; wheel bushing ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā . More at box .
Noun
bush (plural bushes )
A thick washer or hollow cylinder of metal.
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.
A piece of copper, screwed into a gun , through which the venthole is bored.
Synonyms
Related terms
Verb
bush (third-person singular simple present bushes , present participle bushing , simple past and past participle bushed )
( transitive ) To furnish with a bush or lining ; to line .
to bush a pivot hole
Anagrams
Albanian
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
Either borrowed through Vulgar Latin from Latin buxus , or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH ( “ to grow ” ) (compare Dutch bos ( “ woods ” ) , English bush ).
Pronunciation
Noun
bush m (plural bushe , definite bushi , definite plural bushet )
( botany ) boxwood (Buxus sempervirens )
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH ( “ to grow ” ) .
Noun
bush m (plural busha , definite bushi , definite plural bushat )
a mythological monster
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
References
Aromanian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Compare Romanian buș .
Noun
bush m (plural bush ) or n (plural bushi /bushe )
fist
Synonyms
Burushaski
Pronunciation
Noun
bush بشنگو ( bushongo ) pl
cat
See also
References
Sadaf Munshi (2015 ) “Word Lists”, in Burushaski Language Documentation Project .
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English busc , bysc , from Proto-West Germanic *busk . Cognates include Middle Dutch bosch , busch , Middle High German busch , bosch , and also Old French bois , buisson .
Pronunciation
Noun
bush (plural bushes )
bush (low-lying plant)
Descendants
References