flush

plural flushes

1. A group of birds that have suddenly started up from undergrowth, trees, etc.

   As when a Faulcon hath with nimble flight / Flowne at a flush of Ducks foreby the brooke […].

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

present singular third person flushes · participle present flushing · participle past flushed · past flushed

1. transitiveTo cause to take flight from concealment.

   The dogs flushed the deer from the woods.

   Synonyms: drive, flush out, scare up

2. intransitiveTo take suddenly to flight, especially from cover.

   A covey of quail flushed from the undergrowth.

   3 more examples

   But then as little VVrens but nevvly fledge, / […] / His fellovv noting his agilitie, / Thinkes he as vvell may venter as the other, / So fluſhing from one ſpray vnto another, / Gets to the top, and then enbold'ned flies, / Vnto an height paſt ken of humane eyes: […]

   1613, William Browne, “The Fourth Song”, in Britannia’s Pastorals. [The First Booke], London: […] Geo[rge] Norton, […], →OCLC, page 83

   The birds seem to lie very close and must be nearly stepped on before they will flush.

   1926, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds: Marsh Birds, page 336

   AWACS is survivable due to its ability to flush on warning, to maneuver at jet speeds, to maintain awareness of the developing air situation and to command weapons as appropriate, including weapons for its own defense.

   1972, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Department of Defense, Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1973, page 460

comparative flusher · superlative flushest

1. Smooth, even, aligned; not sticking out.

   Sand down the excess until it is flush with the surface.

2. Wealthy or well off.

   He just got a bonus so he's flush today.

   1 more example

   In 1952, Fawcett Books was flush with the unprecedented success of Women's Barracks.

   2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 54

3. abbreviationellipsismediaEllipsis of flush left and right: a body of text aligned with both its left and right margins.

   Synonyms: forced, forced justified, force justified, justified

4. Full of vigor; fresh; glowing; bright.

   With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May.

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]

5. Affluent; abounding; well furnished or supplied; hence, liberal; prodigal.

   [H]e vvas not fluſh in Ready [i.e., ready money], either to go to Lavv or clear old Debts, neither could he find good Bail: […]

   1712, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], “A Copy of Bull and Frog’s Letter to Lord Strutt”, in Law is a Bottomless-Pit. […], London: […] John Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 8

1. not comparableSuddenly and completely.

   I landed flush on the couch.

plural flushes

1. countableuncountableA sudden flowing; a rush which fills or overflows, as of water for cleansing purposes.

   in manner of a wave or flush

   1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC

2. countableuncountableParticularly, such a cleansing of a toilet.
3. countableuncountablecomputingThe process of clearing the contents of a buffer or cache.
4. countableuncountableA suffusion of the face with blood, as from fear, shame, modesty, or intensity of feeling of any kind; a blush; a glow.

   When I would kiss thy hand, / The flush of anger'd shame / O'erflows thy calmer glances, / And o'er black brows drops down / A sudden-curved frown: […]

   1830 June, Alfred Tennyson, “Madeline”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 18

5. countableuncountableAny tinge of red color like that produced on the cheeks by a sudden rush of blood.

   the flush on the side of a peach; the flush on the clouds at sunset

   1 more example

   Benefit’s cult product Benetint is the lip stain most widely associated with Popsicle lips. Its watery tint gives just the slightest hint of flush, befitting of lips (and nipples — Benetint’s original use was to tint the nipples of burlesque dancers).

   2014 July 22, Kathleen Hou, “How to Get Summery, Popsicle-Stained Lips”, in The Cut, New York, N.Y.: Vox Media, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2018

6. countableuncountableA sudden flood or rush of feeling; a thrill of excitement, animation, etc.

   a flush of joy

7. countableuncountablehobbiesA line of poles or obstacles that a skier must weave between.

present singular third person flushes · participle present flushing · participle past flushed · past flushed

1. transitiveTo cleanse by flooding with generous quantities of a fluid.

   Flush the injury with plenty of water.

   Synonyms: sluice

2. transitiveParticularly, to cleanse a toilet by introducing a large amount of water.
3. intransitiveTo become suffused with reddish color due to embarrassment, excitement, overheating, or other systemic disturbance, to blush.

   The damsel flushed at the scoundrel's suggestion.

   1 more example

   She turned, laughing at the surprise, and flushing with pleasure.

   1872, “The Argosy. Edited by Mrs. Henry Wood. Volume XIV. July to December, 1872”, in Google, London, page 60

   Synonyms: blush, crimson

4. transitiveTo cause to blush.

   Nor flush with shame the passing virgin's cheek.

   [1716], [John] Gay, “(please specify the page)”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: […] Bernard Lintott, […], →OCLC

   3 more examples

   Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose, / Flushing his brow, [...]

   1819, John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza XVI, page 91

   "Who plants a seed begets a bud, -- Extract of that same root; -- Why marvel at the hectic blood -- That flushes this wild fruit?"

   1925, Countee Cullen, Fruit of the Flower

   The swiftness of the elevator ride caused a drop in air pressure that made Asa nauseous, flushed his brown cheeks maroon, and threatened his already altered equilibrium.

   1986, Craig G. Harris, “Weekend Plans”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 134

5. To cause to be full; to flood; to overflow; to overwhelm with water.

   to flush the meadows

6. transitiveTo excite, inflame.

   such things as can only feed his pride and flush his ambition

   1692–1717, Robert South, “Against Long Extemporary Prayers”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London

   1 more example

   Chill depths of the spirit are flushed to a fever, The nightmare silence is broken. We are not lost.

   1941, Theodore Roethke, “Prognosis”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 5

7. intransitiveTo be cleansed by being flooded with generous quantities of water.

   There must be somebody home: I just heard the toilet flushing.

8. transitivecomputingTo clear (a buffer or cache) of its contents.
9. transitivecomputingTo write (the data) to primary storage, clearing it from the buffer or cache.

   flush to disk

10. To flow and spread suddenly; to rush.

    Blood flushes into the face.

    1 more example

    the flushing noise of many waters

    1545, John Bale, The Image of Both Churches

11. To show red; to shine suddenly; to glow.

    In her cheek, distemper flushing glowed.

    1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

    1 more example

    The traveller who descends at morning into the deep gorge from the west, may see, far above him, the snows of Olympus flushed with a golden glow under the beams of the rising sun.

    1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 172

12. businessTo fill in (joints); to point the level; to make them flush.
13. intransitivebusinessTo operate a placer mine, where the continuous supply of water is insufficient, by holding back the water, and releasing it periodically in a flood.
14. businessTo fill underground spaces, especially in coal mines, with material carried by water, which, after drainage, constitutes a compact mass.
15. intransitivetransitiveTo dispose or be disposed of by flushing down a toilet.
16. SingaporegovernmentTo move, shift or align to one side.

plural flushes

1. A groundwater-fed marsh or peaty mire (which may be acidic or basic, nutrient-rich or poor); (originally especially Scotland and Northern England) a (marshy) pool or seep, as in a field.

   For this point onwards the land slopes gently until it becomes quite low lying, that is, tends to become a "flush" or bog.

   1917, Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, page 131

   5 more examples

   The reason for a "green gair" or flush is the outflow of a spring, and a regular line of these springs may often be traced along a valley slope.

   1918, The Scottish Journal of Agriculture, volumes 1-2, page 263

   The pH in water of the hillside soils varied between 3.1 and 6.1 with a mean of 4.2. The pattern of pH variation is complex and does not clearly relate either to cultivation or occupation. The most consistent, though weak, correlation appears to be between higher pH and flushes or bogs, which indicates that the local groundwaters are comparatively basic.

   1995, Olwyn Owen, Christopher Lowe, Kebister: The Four-thousand-year-old Story, page 45

   Suddenly a way would open down into a flush or bog, even some extensive ones where snowfed springs rose, and so did Asiatic Golden Plover with their plangent cries, and calling from high circling; and I was home again.

   2007, Colin Simms, Gyrfalcon Poems, page 16

   The inland distribution of Plantago maritima in Ireland and Britain is … generally associated with base-rich soils or with flushes in more acidic upland soils. … Many of these inland sites are on uplands of both acidic and basic rock. … associated with calcareous, nutrient-poor flushes, …

   2012, M. J. Sheehy Skeffington, D. W. Jeffrey, "Growth performance of an inland population of Plantago maritima in response to nitrogen and salinity", in W.G. Beeftink, A.H.L. Huiskes, Jelte Rozema, Ecology of coastal vegetation: Proceedings of a Symposium, page 264

   Lowland heath Fen, marsh, and swamp / Upland flushes, fens, and swamps […] Flushes are gently sloping, often linear or triangle-shaped wetlands; they may include small watercourses.

   2016, Ralph W. Tiner, Wetland Indicators: A Guide to Wetland Formation

plural flushes

1. card gamesA hand consisting of all cards with the same suit.