different between fresh vs brash

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f???/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersc (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”).

Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Norwegian and Danish frisk (“fresh”), fersk, Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian pr?skas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian ???????? (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco.

Slang sense possibly shortened form of “fresh out the pack”, 1980s routine by Grand Wizzard Theodore.

Adjective

fresh (comparative fresher, superlative freshest)

1. Newly produced or obtained; recent.

2. (of food) Not cooked, dried, frozen, or spoiled.

   Antonym: stale

3. (of plant material) Still green and not dried.

4. Invigoratingly cool and refreshing.

   Synonym: cool

5. (of water) Without salt; not saline.

   Antonym: saline

   • a. 1628, Sir Francis Drake (?), The World Encompassed, Nicholas Bourne (publisher, 1628), page 49:

   • 1820, William Scoresby, An Account of the Arctic Regions, Archibald Constable & Co., page 230:

   • 2009, Adele Pillitteri, Maternal and Child Health Nursing, Sixth Edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, ?ISBN, page 1557:

6. Rested; not tired or fatigued.

   Synonym: rested

   Antonym: tired

   • Before the match, Hodgson had expressed the hope that his players would be fresh rather than rusty after an 18-day break from league commitments because of two successive postponements.

7. In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:inexperienced

8. Youthful; florid.
9. (slang) Good, fashionable.

   Synonyms: cool, fashionable
10. (archaic, slang) Tipsy; drunk.
    • 1840, Parliamentary Papers (volume 9, page 43)

      How long did Mr. Crisp stay with you?—He might have stayed two hours; he stayed some time after; he drank ale and got fresh.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

fresh (not comparable)

1. recently; just recently; most recently

   We are fresh out of milk.

Noun

fresh (plural freshes)

1. A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
   • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (Nebraska, 1987), page 21:

     They went on very well with their work until it was nigh done, when there came the second epistle to Noah's fresh, and away went their mill, shot, lock, and barrel.

2. A stream or spring of fresh water.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene ii^[4]:

     […] And take his bottle from him. / When that's gone, / He shall drink naught but brine, for I'll not show him / Where the quick freshes are.

3. The mingling of fresh water with salt in rivers or bays, as by means of a flood of fresh water flowing toward or into the sea.

Verb

fresh (third-person singular simple present freshes, present participle freshing, simple past and past participle freshed)

1. (commercial fishing) To pack (fish) loosely on ice.
2. To flood or dilute an area of salt water with flowing fresh water.
3. (of wind) To become stronger.
4. To rebore the barrel of a rifle or shotgun.
5. To update.
6. To freshen up.
7. To renew.
8. (of a dairy cow) to give birth to a calf.

References

Etymology 2

1848, US slang, probably from German frech (“impudent, cheeky, insolent”), from Middle High German vrech (“bold, brave, lively”), from Old High German freh (“greedy, eager, avaricious, covetous”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy, outrageous, courageous, capable, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pereg- (“to be quick, twitch, sprinkle, splash”). Cognate with Old English frec (“greedy; eager, bold, daring; dangerous”) and Danish fræk (“naughty”). More at freak.

Adjective

fresh (comparative fresher, superlative freshest)

1. Rude, cheeky, or inappropriate; presumptuous; disrespectful; forward.

2. Sexually aggressive or forward; prone to caress too eagerly; overly flirtatious.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:cheeky

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Fehrs

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?æ?/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Etymology 1

Uncertain. Perhaps from Scots brash, brasch (“a violent onset; an attack or assault”). Perhaps also related to Dutch bars (“stern; strict”), German barsch (“harsh; unfriendly”), Danish barsk (“harsh; rough; tough”), Swedish barsk (“harsh; impetuous”).

Adjective

brash (comparative brasher or more brash, superlative brashest or most brash)

1. (of people or behaviour) Overly bold or self-assertive to the point of being insensitive, tactless or impudent; shameless.

   Synonyms: audacious, brassy, brazen, cocky, undiplomatic

   • 1902, Opie Read, The Starbucks, Chicago: Laird & Lee, Chapter , p. 210,^[1]

     Mrs. Mayfield looked away, and the girl stricken with remorse, hastened to her and said: “There, I have been too brash, haven’t I? You must forgive me for I didn’t intend to be brash.”

     “Brash, my dear? What do you mean by that?”

     She laughed. “Why, I thought everybody know’d what brash meant. Well, it’s er—too quick to say somethin’ you oughtn’t to say.”

   • 1925, Sinclair Lewis, Arrowsmith, Chapter 17,^[2]

     Trouble with Silzer is, he’s too brash—shoots off his mouth too much—likes to hear himself talk.

   • 1958, Peter De Vries, Mackerel Plaza, Penguin, 1986, Chapter 14, p. 209,

     The American’s brash unconcern for nuance indicates a young and vigorous country, the Briton’s clipped speech an ancient, proverbial reserve.

   • 2013, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah, New York: Knopf, Chapter 54,^[3]

     Edusco liked him, he could tell; he imagined Edusco talking about him in a gathering of other self-made Igbo men, men who were brash and striving, who juggled huge businesses and supported vast extended families.

2. (of actions) Overly bold, impetuous or rash.

   Synonyms: foolhardy, reckless

   • 1905, Andy Adams, The Outlet, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Chapter 2, p. 22,^[4]

     […] just because you’re a little hot under the collar, don’t do anything brash, for fear you may regret it afterward.

   • 1960, George O. Smith, “The Troublemakers,” Galaxy Science Fiction Volume 18, No. 4, April 1960, p. 156,^[5]

     Now, Mr. Reed, you’ve committed nothing but a brash act of bad taste by bypassing the standard channels.

3. (of things) Bold, bright or showy, often in a tasteless way.

   Synonyms: flashy, garish, loud, splashy; see also Thesaurus:gaudy

   brash colours; a brash perfume

   • 1963, Ian Fleming, Thrilling Cities, London: Jonathan Cape, Chapter 1, “Hong Kong,”^[6]

     There are scores of brash and noisy bars along Lockhart Street and in Wanchai and North Point (on the island) and throughout the back lanes of Kowloon […]

   • 1996, Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman’s Boy, New York: Picador, 1998, Chapter 24, p. 243,^[7]

     The driveway is filled with vehicles parked bumper to bumper and the house is lit up like I’ve never seen it before, brash yellow light streaming from every window on every floor, and the tinny, nasal sound of gramophone jazz trumpeting inside.

Translations

Noun

brash (countable and uncountable, plural brashes)

1. A rash or eruption; a sudden or transient fit of sickness.
2. A sudden burst of rain.
3. (obsolete) An attack or assault.

Derived terms

• water brash
• weaning brash

Verb

brash (third-person singular simple present brashes, present participle brashing, simple past and past participle brashed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To disturb.

Etymology 2

Compare American English bresk, brusk (“fragile, brittle”).

Adjective

brash (comparative brasher or more brash, superlative brashest or most brash)

1. (US, colloquial, dated) Brittle (said e.g. of wood or vegetables).

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)

Noun

brash (countable and uncountable, plural brashes)

1. Leaf litter of small leaves and little twigs as found under a hedge.
2. (geology) Broken and angular rock fragments underlying alluvial deposits.
   • 1839, Sir Charles Lyell, Elements of Geology

     Alluvium differs from the rubble or brash , just described , as being composed of sand and gravel , more or less rolled

3. Broken fragments of ice.
   • 1853, Elisha Kent Kane, The U. S. Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin

     The sea dashed in an angry surf over its inclined sides, rattling the icy fragments or “brash” against its irregular surface

Further reading

• brash in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Harbs, brahs, h bars, h-bars, hbars, shrab

Scots

Noun

brash (plural brashes)

1. illness, fit

Derived terms

• water brash