brush n.3
1. a house-painter [meton.].
| , , | ![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Sl. Dict. |
| Sl. Dict. | |
| Sl. and Its Analogues. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Aus. Sl. Dict. 12: Brush, a painter. |
2. the supposed resemblance of the glass’s shape to that of a house-painter’s brush.
(a) a small glass, made of an inverted cone fixed to a thick stem, which is used for drinking drams of whisky or other spirits.
| press cutting in Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 51/1: That little bloke [...] put away six pots of four-half, three kervoortens of cold satin in a two-out brush, a ’arf kervoorten of rum, and a bottle of whisky. |
(b) strong, rough whisky.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | ‘Omaha Slim’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 105: They call it ‘the rub of the brush’ in that world to which Slim belongs. They call it that because that’s the way it feels when it goes down. | |
 | Winnipeg Trib. (Manitoba) 7 Apr. 55/3: He might get something that he could sell for [...] a ‘rub o’ the brush’, a half pint of the lodging house booze. | |
| Lancaster Eagle-Gaz. (OH) 3 June 4/4: It was talk of towns [...] of various kinds of whiskey. Milkshake recollected longingly the ‘Rub o’ the Brush’ he had swigged [...] in Chi. | |
| ‘Volstead English’ in AS VII:2 86: Terms used for intoxicating liquor: Brush whiskey. | |
| Orlando Eve. Star (FL) 21 Dec. 4/5: ‘Rub o’ the Brush,’ a liquor that boiled if it spilled on the bar. |
3. (N.Z. prison) a prison-made stabbing weapon [the use of a sharpened toothbrush handle].
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 31/2: brush n. a knife, a stabbing weapon. |
In compounds
(US black) a sip of whisky.
| Africanisms 232: ‘A drink of whiskey,’ i.e., ‘brush mouth.’. |