brush, brush aside, brushfire?/ A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Handball
German handballers beat Montenegro

Germany's handball team has brushed Montenegro aside by a score of 29-21.
Coach Martin Heuberger's team did the damage with seven unanswered goals
early in the second half. Germany face France next.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Meaning

It's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

Origin

This proverb refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was a valuable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey).
The first citation of the expression in print in its currently used form is found in John Ray's A Hand-book of Proverbs, 1670, in which he lists it as:

A [also 'one'] bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

By how long the phrase predates Ray's publishing isn't clear, as variants of it were known for centuries before 1670. The earliest English version of the proverb is from the Bible and was translated into English in Wycliffe's version in 1382, although Latin texts have it from the 13th century:

Ecclesiastes IX - A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Quote:

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Samuel Adams

Passengers tell of their brush with death aboard BA Boeing 777

18/01/2008 15:07:30

Passengers gave vivid descriptions of the seconds before near-disaster aboard the Boeing 777 that crash landed at Heathrow. Jason Johnson said: "We came in very, very fast. Once it landed, it spun 90 degrees. I felt like I was in a washing machine

After brush with extinction, cuckoo clocks are back

Ten years ago it was thought the famous Black Forest cuckoo clocks would
disappear - sales plummeted and several old clockmakers went broke. Now,
new features and modern designs have e

brush

[名]

1 ブラシ, はけ

a paint brush
絵筆.

2 ブラシ［はけ］をかけること；絵筆を使うこと；((the 〜))画法, 画技

the brush of Manet ［＝Manet's brush］
マネの画法

give one's hat a brush
帽子にブラシをかける（▼手などでほこりを落とす場合にも用いる）.

3 （…との）小衝突, 小ぜり合い((with ...))

a brush with the police ［the law］
警察とのごたごた.

4 （乗馬での）疾走, 疾駆；スピード競走.

5 《電気》（発電機・電動機の）ブラシ, 刷子(さっし)；ブラシ放電(brush discharge).

6 （動物, 特にキツネの）ふさふさした尾；房状のもの；（男の帽子の）房飾り；穀粒の先の毛.

7 軽く触れること, かすること

get the brush from ...
…に触れる.

8 ((米俗))すげない拒絶（brush-off）

give ... the brush
…を袖にする, ふる

get the brush
はねつけられる.

at a brush

一挙に.

have a brush with death

あやうく命を落としかける.

━━[動](他)

1 ［III[名]/V[名][形]］…にブラシをかける, を（はけで）こする, 掃く, 塗る；〈歯・床などを〉磨く, 掃いて［磨いて］（…の状態に）する

brush one's hair
髪にブラシをかける

brush one's teeth clean
歯をきれいに磨く

brushed denim
けば立て加工のデニム.

2 …を軽くかすめる, かする, とすれ合う.

3 …を（ブラシ・手などで）払いのける, のほこり［どろ］を払う((away, off))

brush away the dust
ほこりを払う.

━━(自)

1 歯を磨く

Brush after every meal.
毎食後歯を磨きなさい.

2 髪にブラシをかける.

3 （…を）かすめて通る((against, across, over ...))；（…に）すれすれに通る((past, by, through ...)).

4 疾走する, 突進する.

brush ... aside ［away］/brush aside ［away］ ...

(1) …を払いのける, はねのける, 払い落とす. ⇒(他)3
(2) 〈困難・反対などを〉無視する, 軽くあしらう.

brush ... down/brush down ...

〈服などの〉ほこりを手［ブラシ］で払う.

brush off

(自)（ブラシで）とれる, 落ちる.

━━(他)

［brush ... off/brush off ...］

(1) ⇒(他)3
(2) ((略式))〈提案などを〉無視する, 拒否する；〈人と〉関係を断つ, 〈人を〉はねつける.

brush over ...

(自)〈問題などを〉軽く扱う.

━━(他)

［brush ... over/brush over ...］

(1) …をざっと塗る.
(2) …に丹念にブラシをかける.

brush round

((米略式))活動する.

brush ... up/brush up ...

(1) ブラシなどで…に磨きをかける((on ...)).
(2) 〈忘れかけた外国語・知識などを〉磨き直す, 復習する

I must brush up (on) my English.
英語をやり直さなくてはならない.

(3) 〈人の〉身繕いをする.

brush (up) against ...

(1) ⇒(自)3
(2) 〈問題などに〉ぶつかる.

brush・a・ble

[形]

brush・er

[名]

brush・less

[形]



brush
An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous: a brush with the law; a brush with death.n.

1. 1. A device consisting of bristles fastened into a handle, used in scrubbing, polishing, or painting.
   2. The act of using this device.
2. A light touch in passing; a graze.
3. An instance of contact with something undesirable or dangerous: a brush with the law; a brush with death.
4. A bushy tail: the brush of a fox.
5. A sliding connection completing a circuit between a fixed and a moving conductor.
6. A snub; a brushoff.

v., brushed, brush·ing, brush·es. v.tr.

1. 1. To clean, polish, or groom with a brush.
   2. To apply with or as if with motions of a brush.
   3. To remove with or as if with motions of a brush.
2. To dismiss abruptly or curtly: brushed the matter aside; brushed an old friend off.
3. To touch lightly in passing; graze against.

v.intr.

1. To use or apply a brush.
2. To move past something so as to touch it lightly.

phrasal verbs:
brush back Baseball.

1. To force (a batter) to move away from the plate by throwing an inside pitch.

brush up

1. To refresh one's memory.
2. To renew a skill.

[Middle English brusshe, from Old French brosse, brushwood, brush. See brush².]

brusher brush'er n.
brushy brush'y adj.

SYNONYMS brush, flick, glance, graze, shave, skim. These verbs mean to make light contact with something in passing: Her arm brushed mine. I flicked the paper with my finger. The arrow glanced off the tree. The knife blade grazed the countertop. A taxi shaved the curb. The oar skims the pond's surface.

brush² (brŭsh)
n.

1. 1. A dense growth of bushes or shrubs.
   2. Land covered by such a growth.
2. Cut or broken branches.

[Middle English brusshe, from Old French brosse, brushwood, from Vulgar Latin *bruscia, perhaps from Latin bruscum, knot on a maple.]

brushy brush'y adj.

━━ n. ブラシ, はけ; 画筆; （キツネなどの）尾; （ブラシ・毛筆での）ひとなで; 擦過; （小さい）けんか; 〔米〕 （折り取った）小枝, しば; やぶ; 未開拓地; 【コンピュータ】ブラシ ((コンピュータグラフィクスで影づけなどをする機能)).
at a brush　一挙に.
━━ vt. はけでこする; 払い落とす, 払って落ちる; （こすって）みがく; かする ((against)); 疾走する.
brush against　…といざこざを起こす.
brush aside [away]　払いのける; 無視する.
brush down　（ブラシ・手で）…からほこり［汚れ］を払い落とす.
brush off　素っ気なく拒絶する, 冷たくあしらう.
brush over　軽く彩色する.
brush up　ブラシをかける; みがきをかける, （学問など）やり直す.
brush up on　…をやりなおす.
brush border　【細胞】刷子［毛］縁 ((動物の上皮細胞の表面膜にある繊維構造)).
brush discharge　【電気】ブラシ放電 ((ブラシ状の放電)).
brushed　━━ a. けばを立てた, 起毛した.
brushfire　━━ n., a. （低木林の）山火事; 小競り合い（の）.
brush-off　（そっけない）拒絶; 解雇.
brush-up　〔英〕 身づくろい; （勉強などを）やり直して磨きをかけること.
brush・wood　やぶ; しば, そだ.
brush・work　筆づかい, 画法.
brush・y　━━ a. ブラシのような; やぶに覆われた.