bush

Etymology 1

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 (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

1. (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.
   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. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
2. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
   bushes to support pea vines
3. (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.
4. (slang, vulgar) A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's.
   I rub her bush with my cheek and my chin, tickle her bonne-bouche with my tongue. 1941, Henry Miller, Under the Roofs of Paris (Opus Pistorum), New York: Grove Press, published 1983, page 27
   But no, the little pool of semen was there, proof positive, with droplets caught hanging in her bush. 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 787
   I push my seed in her bush for life / It's gonna work because I'm pushing it right 2002, “The Seed (2.0)”, in Phrenology, performed by The Roots
5. (hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.

verb

1. (intransitive) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.
   Around it, and above, for ever green, / The bushing alders form'd a shady scene. 1726, Homer, “The Odyssey”, in Alexander Pope, transl., edited by Samuel Johnson, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., published 1839, page 404
2. To set bushes for; to support with bushes.
   to bush peas
3. 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
4. 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

1. (archaic) A tavern or wine merchant.

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

1. (often with "the") Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated.
   1. (Australia) The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations.
      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. 1894, Henry Lawson, “We Called Him “Ally” for Short”, in Short Stories in Prose and Verse
      Little Dot had lost her way in the bush. 1899, Ethel C. Pedley, Dot and the Kangaroo
      The theme of children lost in the bush is a well-worked one in Australian art and literature. 2000, Robert Holden, Paul Cliff, Jack Bedson, The Endless Playground: Celebrating Australian Childhood, page 16
      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. 2021-09-06, “Australian farmers under pressure from climate change”, in Australian Herald
   2. (New Zealand) An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.
   3. (Canada) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.
2. (Canada) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.

adv

1. (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.

adj

1. (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

1. (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

1. A thick washer or hollow cylinder of metal.
2. 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.
3. A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.

verb

1. (transitive) To furnish with a bush or lining; to line.
   to bush a pivot hole