brush off

See also: brushoff and brush-off

English

brush off (third-person singular simple present brushes off, present participle brushing off, simple past and past participle brushed off)

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see brush,‎ off. To remove something with a brush.
(idiomatic) To disregard (something), to dismiss or ignore (someone), as unimportant.
- 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
  Again I begged her to keep an eye on her blood pressure and not get so worked up, and once more she brushed me off, this time with a curt request that I would go and boil my head.
(dated) To depart with a sweeping motion.
- 1765, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare, Dublin: […] W. Whitestone, […], published 1776, →OCLC, page 8:
  Thus, ſeizing his hat, he bruſh'd off like the vvind, / And the Porter and Eatables follovv'd behind.

to remove with a brush

to disregard

brush off (plural brush offs)

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.