paintbrush

[ peynt-bruhsh ]

/ ˈpeɪntˌbrʌʃ /

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noun

a brush for applying paint, as one used in painting houses or one used in painting pictures.

any plant of the genus Castilleja.

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Origin of paintbrush

First recorded in 1820–30; paint + brush¹

Words nearby paintbrush

paintball, paintball game, paint black, paintbox, paint bridge, paintbrush, paint-by-numbers, painted, painted beauty, painted bunting, painted cup

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use paintbrush in a sentence

Kneeling in the thick grass, he lifted a rock the size of a loaf of bread, then began clearing loose soil underneath with a small paintbrush.
How Scotland forged a rare alliance between amateur treasure hunters and archaeologists|Corinne Iozzio|August 24, 2021|Popular-Science
With AI art, it’s the machine that manipulates the paintbrush.
This NFT Painting Is a Work of Art - Issue 104: Harmony|Arthur I. Miller|August 18, 2021|Nautilus
Beeple’s art is generated by digital software packages such as Adobe Photoshop that allow artists to manipulate images, rather like manipulating a paintbrush.
This NFT Painting Is a Work of Art - Issue 104: Harmony|Arthur I. Miller|August 18, 2021|Nautilus
Below, in the ash bed, two barefoot interns are clearing ash away with paintbrushes.
Rhinos, camels and bone-crushing dogs once roamed Nebraska|Alison Pearce Stevens|May 13, 2021|Science News For Students

Although Neel was the one with the paintbrush, in other words, she was willing to give Georgie an unusual degree of agency.
Alice Neel was the greatest American portraitist of the 20th century. Her work continues to astonish.|Sebastian Smee|March 25, 2021|Washington Post
Yves Klein first painted a naked woman blue in 1958 and used her as a “human paintbrush.”
The Life and Art of Radical Provocateur—and Commune Leader—Otto Muehl|Anthony Haden-Guest|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So he was really using a paintbrush for the first time in his life.
Can You Paint Like Johannes Vermeer, Too?|Andrew Romano|December 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Psycho theme song rang in my head as her poop-filled paintbrush crept closer to my face.
I Got a $180 Bird-Poop Facial|Kelsey Meany|August 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The younger Kate, in contrast, turned her own schoolgirl training with a paintbrush into a career.
Charles Dickens’s Unhappy Children|Michael Gorra|December 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But the call for the wielders of the paintbrush came not only from the sea.
Inventions of the Great War|A. Russell (Alexander Russell) Bond
Desert primroses showed their rounded pink clusters in sunny places, and here and there burned the carmine of Indian paintbrush.
The Call of the Canyon|Zane Grey
Here the columbine, the paintbrush, the monument-plant, and scores of other bright blossoms cheer the wild frontier.
The Rocky Mountain Wonderland|Enos A. Mills
Autumn's gorgeous paintbrush laid wonderful coloring upon the maple and alder and birch that lined the lake shore.
Big Timber|Bertrand W. Sinclair
In 1906 London went quite mad over a Venus whose entire wardrobe was applied with a paintbrush.
The Footlights Fore and Aft|Channing Pollock

British Dictionary definitions for paintbrush

paintbrush

/ (ˈpeɪntˌbrʌʃ) /

noun

a brush used to apply paint

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012