flush

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:

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

From Middle English flusshen, fluschen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Middle English flasshen, flasschen, flaschen, see flash; or a Middle English blend of flowen (“to flow”) + guschen (“to gush”). Compare with German flutschen.


flush

The dogs flushed the deer from the woods.

(transitive) To cause to take flight from concealment.

A covey of quail flushed from the undergrowth.

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: […] Iohn Haviland, published 1625, →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:

(intransitive) To take suddenly to flight, especially from cover.

en-verb

flush (third-person singular simple present flushes, present participle flushing, simple past and past participle flushed)

flushes (present singular third-person)
flushing (participle present)
flushed (participle past)
flushed (past)

подплашвам

to cause to take flight from concealment

opvliegen

to take suddenly to flight, especially from cover


flush

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

Smooth, even, aligned; not sticking out.

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

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

2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 54:

flush left and right
flush left and right#English

(typography) Short for flush left and right: a body of text aligned with both its left and right margins.

flush left and right

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]:

[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:

Affluent; abounding; well furnished or suppled; hence, liberal; prodigal.

en-adj

flush (comparative flusher, superlative flushest)

flusher (comparative)
flushest (superlative)

Same as Etymology 3, according to the American Heritage Dictionary.


flush

I landed flush on the couch.


flush

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:

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

Particularly, such a cleansing of a toilet.

(computing) The process of clearing the contents of a buffer or cache.

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:

A suffusion of the face with blood, as from fear, shame, modesty, or intensity of feeling of any kind; a blush; a glow.

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

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

a flush of joy

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

(skiing) A line of poles or obstacles that a skier must weave between.

Probably from Etymology 1 according to the American Heritage Dictionary.


flush

Flush the injury with plenty of water.

(transitive) To cleanse by flooding with generous quantities of a fluid.

(transitive) Particularly, to cleanse a toilet by introducing a large amount of water.

The damsel flushed at the scoundrel's suggestion.

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:

(intransitive) To become suffused with reddish color due to embarrassment, excitement, overheating, or other systemic disturbance, to blush.

Nor flush with shame the passing virgin's cheek.

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

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:

to flush the meadows

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

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:

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; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 5:

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

(intransitive, of a toilet) To be cleansed by being flooded with generous quantities of water.

(transitive, computing) To clear (a buffer or cache) of its contents.

flush to disk

(transitive, computing, of data held in a buffer or cache) To write (the data) to primary storage, clearing it from the buffer or cache.

Blood flushes into the face.

the flushing noise of many waters

1545, John Bale, The Image of Both Churches:

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:

To show red; to shine suddenly; to glow.

(masonry) To fill in (joints); to point the level; to make them flush.

(mining, intransitive) To operate a placer mine, where the continuous supply of water is insufficient, by holding back the water, and releasing it periodically in a flood.

(mining) To fill underground spaces, especially in coal mines, with material carried by water, which, after drainage, constitutes a compact mass.

(intransitive, transitive) To dispose or be disposed of by flushing down a toilet

промивам

to cleanse by flooding with generous quantities of a fluid

spoel

to cleanse a toilet by introducing lots of water

huuhdella

of toilet: to be cleansed with generous quantities of water

tyhjentää

computing: to clear a buffer of its contents


flush

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:

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:

[…] Not all the flushes are as basic as might be expected in basalt country, but they do support most of the sedges found in this habitat in the Hebrides. […] in peaty fushes both on Canna and Sanday […]

2017, John Lorne Campbell, Canna: The Story of a Hebridean Island, page xvii:

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.

Various similar terms are found in dialectal English and Scots as flash and flosh (older Scots flosche), and the variation goes back to Middle English flushe, flosche, flashe, flaske. The DSL suggests a relation between flush, English flash (“pool”), and Middle English flosche, but influence from other water-related senses of flush and flash is also conceivable.


flush

(poker) A hand consisting of all cards with the same suit.

→ French: flush

→ Japanese: フラッシュ (furasshu)

→ Korean: 플러쉬 (peulleoswi)

→ Portuguese: flush

Probably from Middle French flus (“flow”), cognate with flux.


flush

(anglicism) flush (reddening of the face)

information technology
information technology

(anglicism, information technology) emptying of the cache


flush

(poker) flush (hand consisting of all cards with the same suit)