brush back
B2 neutral separable transitive
In simple words
To push your hair back away from your face, or in baseball, to throw the ball close to make the batter step back.
Meanings
1 A2 neutral
To sweep or smooth hair away from the face in a backward direction.
"He brushed back his wet hair and looked in the mirror."
Grammar: separable
2 C1
idiomatic
neutral
(Baseball) To throw a pitch deliberately close to the batter's body to force them to step back from home plate.
"The pitcher brushed back the slugger with a fastball inside."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
The hair-styling sense is universal and everyday. The baseball sense ('brushback pitch') is specific to North American sports commentary and may be unfamiliar to non-American learners.
Commonly used with
hair fringe bangs batter pitch strand
Forms
Base
brush back
I/you/we/they
3rd person
brushes back
he/she/it
Past simple
brushed back
yesterday
Past participle
brushed back
have + pp
-ing form
brushing back
continuous
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