brushes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of brush.

   Restorers reach for fine sable brushes when working on delicate old canvases.

   The hardware store stocks brushes ranging from wide rollers to narrow detailing tips.

   Note

   Sibilant stems take -es rather than a bare -s, so brush becomes brushes just as wish becomes wishes. The plural covers the countable meanings: paintbrushes and hairbrushes, the carbon brushes in an electric motor, even brief brushes with fame. Wild undergrowth is the exception. That sense of brush is uncountable, so a hillside is covered in brush, not brushes.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of brush.

   The groom brushes the horse's coat until it gleams in the sun.

   A low branch brushes the roof of the car whenever it pulls into the driveway.

   Note

   Only a singular third-person subject takes this form: she brushes, the wind brushes, while I, you, we and they keep plain brush. The spelling is shared with the noun plural, so the sentence decides which one you have. In "she brushes after every meal" it is a verb with teeth understood, and in "a cat brushes past" it carries the light-touch meaning with no object at all.

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