Bush

n. [O. Eng. bossh, buysh, boske, bosc, busk (q. v.), D. bosch, bos, O. H. Ger. busc, M. H. Ger. bosche, busch, N. H. Ger. busch, Icel. büskr, büski, Dan. busk, Sw. buske, L. Lat. boscus, buscus, Pr. bosc, It. bosco, Sp. & Pg. bosque; N. Fr. bois, O. Fr. bos. Cf. BOSCAGE.] 1. A thicket, or a place abounding in trees or shrubs. 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; particularly a shrub with branches rising from or near the root; a thick shrub; also, a cluster of shrubs. To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling flowers, May make the posy seem the worse, and yet the fault is ours. Gascoigne. 3. A branch of ivy (as sacred to Bacchus) hung out at vintners’ doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, or the tavern itself. If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ’tis true that a good play needs no epilogue. Shak.

4. (Hunting.) The tail or brush of a fox.
5. (Mach.) (a.) A perforated piece of metal, as hard brass, let into certain parts of machinery, to receive the wear of pivots, journals, and the like, as in the pivot-holes of a clock, the hub of a cart-wheel, &c. (b.) Any similar lining of a hole with metal, as the vent of a gun.

In the larger machines, such a piece is called a box, particularly in the United States. Bush-metal (Mech.), an alloy of copper and tin, used for journals, the lining of pivot-holes, &c. — Bush-ranger, one who roams, or hides, among the bushes; especially an escaped criminal living in the woods.

1. To set bushes for; to support with bushes; as, to bush peas.
2. To use a bush-harrow on, or for covering; as, to bush a piece of land; to bush in seeds.
3. To furnish with a bush, or to line, as a hole, with metal; as, to bush a pivot-hole.