Bush , n. [D. bus a box, akin to E. box; or F. boucher to plug.]

1.(Mech.) A lining for a hole to make it smaller; a thimble or ring of metal or wood inserted in a plate or other part of machinery to receive the wear of a pivot or arbor. Knight.

☞ In the larger machines, such a piece is called a box, particularly in the United States.

2. (Gun.) A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored. Farrow.

Bush , v. t. To furnish with a bush, or lining; as, to bush a pivot hole.

Bush (?), n. [OE. bosch, busch, buysch, bosk, busk; akin to D. bosch, OHG. busc, G. busch, Icel. būskr, būski, Dan. busk, Sw. buske, and also to LL. boscus, buscus, Pr. bosc, It. bosco, Sp. & Pg. bosque, F. bois, OF. bos. Whether the LL. or G. form is the original is uncertain; if the LL., it is perh. from the same source as E. box a case. Cf. Ambush, Boscage, Bouquet, Box a case.]

1. A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild forest.

☞ This was the original sense of the word, as in the Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In this sense it is extensively used in the British colonies, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and also in Australia and Canada; as, to live or settle in the bush.

2. A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.

To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling flowers. Gascoigne.

3. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as, bushes to support pea vines.

"4. A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself."

"If it be true that good wine needs no bush, t is true that a good play needs no epilogue. Shak.

5. (Hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.

To beat about the bush, to approach anything in a round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; -- a metaphor taken from hunting. -- Bush bean (Bot.), a variety of bean which is low and requires no support (Phaseolus vulgaris, variety nanus). See Bean, 1. -- Bush buck, or Bush goat(Zoöl.), a beautiful South African antelope (Tragelaphus sylvaticus); -- so called because found mainly in wooden localities. The name is also applied to other species. -- Bush cat (Zoöl.), the serval. See Serval. -- Bush chat (Zoöl.), a bird of the genus Pratincola, of the Thrush family. -- Bush dog. (Zoöl.) See Potto. -- Bush hammer. See Bushhammer in the Vocabulary. -- Bush harrow (Agric.) See under Harrow. -- Bush hog(Zoöl.), a South African wild hog (Potamochœrus Africanus); -- called also bush pig, and water hog. -- Bush master (Zoöl.), a venomous snake (Lachesis mutus) of Guinea; -- called also surucucu. -- Bush pea (Bot.), a variety of pea that needs to be bushed. -- Bush shrike (Zoöl.), a bird of the genus Thamnophilus, and allied genera; -- called also batarg. Many species inhabit tropical America. -- Bush tit (Zoöl.), a small bird of the genus Psaltriparus, allied to the titmouse. P. minimus inhabits California.

Bush (?), v. i. To branch thickly in the manner of a bush. "The bushing alders." Pope.

Bush , v. t. [imp. & p. p.Bushed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bushing.]

1. To set bushes for; to support with bushes; as, to bush peas.

2. To use a bush harrow on (land), for covering seeds sown; to harrow with a bush; as, to bush a piece of land; to bush seeds into the ground.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913