flush1

[fluhsh] /flʌʃ/
noun
1.
a blush; rosy glow:
a flush of embarrassment on his face.
2.
a rushing or overspreading flow, as of water.
3.
a sudden rise of emotion or excitement:
a flush of anger.
4.
glowing freshness or vigor:
the flush of youth.
5.
hot flush, hot flash.
6.
a cleansing preparation that acts by flushing:
an oil flush for the car's engine.
verb (used with object)
7.
to redden; cause to blush or glow:
Winter air flushed the children's cheeks.
8.
to flood or spray thoroughly with water, as for cleansing purposes:
They flushed the wall with water and then scrubbed it down.
9.
to wash out (a sewer, toilet, etc.) by a sudden rush of water.
10.
Metallurgy.
  1. to remove slag from (a blast furnace).
  2. to spray (a coke oven) to cool the gases generated and wash away the ammonia and tars distilled.
11.
to animate or excite; inflame:
flushed with success.
verb (used without object)
12.
to blush; redden.
13.
to flow with a rush; flow and spread suddenly.
14.
to operate by flushing; undergo flushing:
The toilet won't flush.
Origin
1540-50; perhaps extended senses of flush3; compare similar phonesthemic elements and meanings of blush, gush, flash
Related forms
flushable, adjective
flusher, noun
flushingly, adverb
flushness, noun
Synonyms
3. access, rush, flood, impulse, thrill.

flush2

[fluhsh] /flʌʃ/
adjective
1.
even or level, as with a surface; forming the same plane:
The bottom of the window is flush with the floor.
2.
having direct contact; being right next to; immediately adjacent; contiguous:
The table was flush against the wall.
3.
well-supplied, as with money; affluent; prosperous:
He was feeling flush on payday.
4.
abundant or plentiful, as money.
5.
having a ruddy or reddish color; blushing.
6.
full of vigor; lusty.
7.
full to overflowing.
8.
Printing. even or level with the right margin (flush right) or the left margin (flush left) of the type page; without an indention.
adverb
9.
on the same level; in a straight line; without a change of plane:
to be made flush with the top of the table.
10.
in direct contact; squarely:
It was set flush against the edge.
verb (used with object)
11.
to make flush or even.
12.
to improve the nutrition of (a ewe) to bring on optimum physiological conditions for breeding.
verb (used without object)
13.
to send out shoots, as plants in spring.
noun
14.
a fresh growth, as of shoots and leaves.
Origin
1540-50; perhaps all sense developments of flush1
Related forms
flushness, noun

flush3

[fluhsh] /flʌʃ/
verb (used with object)
1.
to rouse and cause to start up or fly off:
to flush a woodcock.
verb (used without object)
2.
to fly out or start up suddenly.
noun
3.
a flushed bird or flock of birds.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English flusshen, first attested as past participle fluste, fliste; of uncertain origin

flush4

[fluhsh] /flʌʃ/
adjective
1.
consisting entirely of cards of one suit:
a flush hand.
noun
2.
a hand or set of cards all of one suit.
Compare royal flush, straight flush.
3.
Pinochle. a meld of ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of the trump suit.
Compare marriage (def 9), royal marriage.
Origin
1520-30; compare French (obsolete) flus, variant of flux flow, flush (compare phrase run of cards) < Latin fluxus flux
Examples from the web for flush
  • The horizon hills are still rimmed by a faint line of flame, and the sky above them glows with the crimson flush of the sunset.
  • He asks us not to flush the toilet at home unless extremely necessary.
  • As the first flush of liberation begins to fade, differences between the new rulers may soon begin to widen.
  • Because the fish are bottom dwellers, they might be leaping to flush out their gills.
  • The organism is also a good swimmer and easily evades the stomach's muscle contractions, which work to flush out other contents.
  • One will flush the birds out while the other captures them.
  • Remove pavers, dig up the circles of sod, and set in pavers so they're flush with surrounding sod.
  • Designers have long favored sleek, flush door handles on concept cars.
  • He himself chooses not to flush the toilet at his place.
  • Wind tunnels are expensive, but that doesn't mean flush your funding down the toilet on whim.
British Dictionary definitions for flush

flush1

/flʌʃ/
verb
1.
to blush or cause to blush
2.
to flow or flood or cause to flow or flood with or as if with water
3.
to glow or shine or cause to glow or shine with a rosy colour
4.
to send a volume of water quickly through (a pipe, channel, etc) or into (a toilet) for the purpose of cleansing, emptying, etc
5.
to cause (soluble substances in the soil) to be washed towards the surface, as by the action of underground springs, or (of such substances) to be washed towards the soil surface
6.
(transitive; usually passive) to excite or elate
noun
7.
a rosy colour, esp in the cheeks; blush
8.
a sudden flow or gush, as of water
9.
a feeling of excitement or elation: the flush of success
10.
early bloom; freshness: the flush of youth
11.
redness of the skin, esp of the face, as from the effects of a fever, alcohol, etc
12.
(ecology) an area of boggy land fed by ground water
adjective
13.
having a ruddy or heightened colour
Derived Forms
flusher, noun
Word Origin
C16 (in the sense: to gush forth): perhaps from flush³

flush2

/flʌʃ/
adjective (usually postpositive)
1.
level or even with another surface
2.
directly adjacent; continuous
3.
(informal) having plenty of money
4.
(informal) abundant or plentiful, as money
5.
full of vigour
6.
full to the brim or to the point of overflowing
7.
(printing) having an even margin, right or left, with no indentations
8.
(of a blow) accurately delivered
9.
(of a vessel) having no superstructure built above the flat level of the deck
adverb
10.
so as to be level or even
11.
directly or squarely
verb (transitive)
12.
to cause (surfaces) to be on the same level or in the same plane
13.
to enrich the diet of (an ewe) during the breeding season
noun
14.
a period of fresh growth of leaves, shoots, etc
Derived Forms
flushness, noun
Word Origin
C18: probably from flush1 (in the sense: spring out)

flush3

/flʌʃ/
verb
1.
(transitive) to rouse (game, wild creatures, etc) and put to flight
Word Origin
C13 flusshen, perhaps of imitative origin

flush4

/flʌʃ/
noun
1.
(in poker and similar games) a hand containing only one suit
Word Origin
C16: from Old French flus, from Latin fluxusflux
Word Origin and History for flush
v.

"fly up suddenly," c.1300, perhaps imitative of the sound of beating wings, or related to flash via its variant flushe. Probably not connected to Old French flux, source of flush (n.).

Transitive meaning "to cause to fly, start" is first attested mid-15c. The sense of "spurt, rush out suddenly, flow with force" (1540s) is probably the same word, with the connecting notion being "sudden movement," but its senses seem more to fit the older ones of flash (now all transferred to this word except in flash flood). Meaning "cleanse a drain, etc., with a rush of water" is from 1789. The noun sense of "sudden redness in the face" (1620s) probably belongs here, too. The verb in this sense is from 1660s. "A very puzzling word" [Weekley]. Related: Flushed; flushing.

adj.

1550s, "perfect, faultless;" c.1600, "abundant; plentifully supplied (with money, etc.)," perhaps from flush (v.) through the notion of a river running full, hence level with its banks. Meaning "even, level" is from 1620s.

n.

"hand of cards all of one suit," 1520s, perhaps from Middle French flus (15c.), from Old French flux "a flowing," with the sense of "a run" (of cards), from Latin fluxus "flux," from fluere "to flow" (see fluent). The form in English probably was influenced by flush (v.).

flush in Medicine

flush 1 (flŭsh)
v. flushed, flush·ing, flush·es

  1. To turn red, as from fever, heat, or strong emotion; blush.

  2. To clean, rinse, or empty with a rapid flow of a liquid, especially water.

n.

  1. An act of cleansing or rinsing with a flow of water.

  2. A reddening of the skin, as with fever, emotion, or exertion.

  3. A brief sensation of heat over all or part of the body.

adj.
Having surfaces in the same plane; even.
Slang definitions & phrases for flush

flush

adjective

Having plenty of money; affluent, esp temporarily; rich: It took money, and the jazzman wasn't ever too flush (1603+)

verb
  1. To stay away from class; cut (1940s+ College students)
  2. flunk (1960s+ College students)
  3. To reject or ignore someone socially (1960s+)
Related Terms

four-flush, in a flush


flush in Technology

data
To delete something, usually superfluous, or to abort an operation.
"Flush" was standard ITS terminology for aborting an output operation. One spoke of the text that would have been printed, but was not, as having been flushed. It is speculated that this term arose from a vivid image of flushing unwanted characters by hosing down the internal output buffer, washing the characters away before they could be printed.
Compare drain.
2. To force temporarily buffered data to be written to more permanent memory. E.g. flushing buffered disk writes to disk, as with C's standard I/O library "fflush(3)" call. This sense was in use among BLISS programmers at DEC and on Honeywell and IBM machines as far back as 1965. Another example of this usage is flushing a cache on a context switch where modified data stored in the cace which belongs to one processes must be written out to main memory so that the cache can be used by another process.
[Jargon File]
(2005-07-18)