electrical brush

Brush \Brush\ (br[u^]sh), n. [OE. brusche, OF. broche, broce,
   brosse, brushwood, F. brosse brush, LL. brustia, bruscia, fr.
   OHG. brusta, brust, bristle, G. borste bristle, b["u]rste
   brush. See {Bristle}, n., and cf. {Browse}.]
   1. An instrument composed of bristles, or other like
      material, set in a suitable back or handle, as of wood,
      bone, or ivory, and used for various purposes, as in
      removing dust from clothes, laying on colors, etc. Brushes
      have different shapes and names according to their use;
      as, clothes brush, paint brush, tooth brush, etc.
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   2. The bushy tail of a fox.
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   3. (Zool.) A tuft of hair on the mandibles.
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   4. Branches of trees lopped off; brushwood.
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   5. A thicket of shrubs or small trees; the shrubs and small
      trees in a wood; underbrush.
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   6. land covered with brush[5]; in Australia, a dense growth
      of vegetation in good soil, including shrubs and trees,
      mostly small.
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   7. (Elec.) A bundle of flexible wires or thin plates of
      metal, used to conduct an electrical current to or from
      the commutator of a dynamo, electric motor, or similar
      apparatus.
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   8. The act of brushing; as, to give one's clothes a brush; a
      rubbing or grazing with a quick motion; a light touch; as,
      we got a brush from the wheel as it passed.
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            [As leaves] have with one winter's brush
            Fell from their boughts.              --Shak.
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   9. A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as,
      to have a brush with an enemy; a brush with the law.
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            Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong,
            And tempt not yet the brushes of the war. --Shak.
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   10. A short contest, or trial, of speed.
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             Let us enjoy a brush across the country. --Cornhill
                                                  Mag.
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   {Electrical brush}, a form of the electric discharge
      characterized by a brushlike appearance of luminous rays
      diverging from an electrified body.
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Electric \E*lec"tric\ ([-e]*l[e^]k"tr[i^]k), Electrical
\E*lec"tric*al\ ([-e]*l[e^]k"tr[i^]*kal), a. [L. electrum amber,
   a mixed metal, Gr. 'h`lektron; akin to 'hle`ktwr the beaming
   sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The
   name came from the production of electricity by the friction
   of amber.]
   1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing,
      derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric
      power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an
      electric spark; an electric charge; an electric current;
      an electrical engineer.
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   2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as,
      an electric or electrical machine or substance; an
      electric generator.
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   3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. "Electric Pindar."
      --Mrs. Browning.
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   4. powered by electricity; as, electrical appliances; an
      electric toothbrush; an electric automobile.
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   {Electric atmosphere}, or {Electric aura}. See under {Aura}.
      

   {Electrical battery}. See {Battery}.

   {Electrical brush}. See under {Brush}.

   {Electric cable}. See {Telegraph cable}, under {Telegraph}.
      

   {Electric candle}. See under {Candle}.

   {Electric cat} (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species
      of African catfish of the genus {Malapterurus} (esp. {M.
      electricus} of the Nile). They have a large electrical
      organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also
      {sheathfish}.

   {Electric clock}. See under {Clock}, and see
      {Electro-chronograph}.

   {Electric current}, a current or stream of electricity
      traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting
      substances, or passing by means of conductors from one
      body to another which is in a different electrical state.
      

   {Electric eel}, or {Electrical eel} (Zo["o]l.), a South
      American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus {Gymnotus}
      ({G. electricus}), from two to five feet in length,
      capable of giving a violent electric shock. See
      {Gymnotus}.

   {Electrical fish} (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an
      electrical organ by means of which it can give an
      electrical shock. The best known kinds are the {torpedo},
      the {gymnotus}, or {electrical eel}, and the {electric
      cat}. See {Torpedo}, and {Gymnotus}.

   {Electric fluid}, the supposed matter of electricity;
      lightning. [archaic]

   {Electrical image} (Elec.), a collection of electrical points
      regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena,
      an image of certain other electrical points, and used in
      the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson.

   {Electric machine}, or {Electrical machine}, an apparatus for
      generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by
      friction.

   {Electric motor}. See {Electro-motor}, 2.

   {Electric osmose}. (Physics) See under {Osmose}.

   {Electric pen}, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for
      multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at
      great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the
      penhandle.

   {Electric railway}, a railway in which the machinery for
      moving the cars is driven by an electric current.

   {Electric ray} (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo.

   {Electric telegraph}. See {Telegraph}.
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