to brush against
15
3.1
- phrasal verb
- As we passed each other on the sidewalk, my shoulder brushed against hers.
- brushed against her leg
- hand brushed against
- brushed against her cheek
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Watch on YouTubeAnd then she runs into this Edward guy again and he ignores her but brushes up against her in the hallway.
- And then she runs into this Edward guy again and he ignores her but brushes up against her in the hallway.
- Oh, I got those caps that you put on a toothbrush that sort of keep other things from brushing up against it.
- Such entanglements, the spaces between the absences of space, where and how they brush against one another, overlap.
Examples
-
It just brushed against my arm.
-
And in the two hours I spent in this dense crowd, I brushed against maybe three people.
-
As he and Sarah clean up, their hands brush against one another. They look into each other's eyes.
Fiction book (1992) -
Something brushed against the side of my face.
-
I was taking my jacket off and it brushed against you.
-
The air was almost cool, brushing lightly against the sweat on his face.
Fiction book (1994) -
As we walked side by side, his down sleeve brushed against my wool sleeve.
Fiction book (1990) -
Jen hung another eight-by-ten on the line, brushing against him as she did.
Fiction book (1995) -
I came and stood beside Rajinder, my arm brushing against his kurta sleeve.
Fiction book (1995) -
The dank fungus smell of sun-starved stones and earth brushed against their faces and filled their nostrils.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To put your hand or body on something to feel it
133
1.6
To touch something lightly while passing by
12
3.7
Move very close to a surface and touch it lightly
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
brush + against
The meaning 'to touch lightly or slightly as one passes by' is directly and transparently derivable from 'brush' (to make slight contact) combined with 'against' (indicating contact), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the phrase. This verb + preposition composition is a common, literal pattern in English (and mirrored in many languages), making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The phrasal verb brush against comes from the simple picture of a soft brush or a sleeve just touching something as you pass, like your coat brushes against a vase for a moment. So it now means 'to touch lightly'.