brushfire

1 of 2

adjective

brush·​fire ˈbrəsh-ˌfī(-ə)r How to pronounce brushfire (audio)
Synonyms of brushfirenext
: involving mobilization only on a small and local scale
brushfire border wars

brush fire

2 of 2

noun

1
: a fire involving low-growing plants (such as scrub and brush)
2
: a minor conflict or crisis
putting out political brush fires

Examples of brushfire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Just two days later, on July 8, 2025, several brush fires were ignited near his apartment complex — collectively dubbed the Copper River/Meenach Fires by investigators. — Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026 Los Angeles County firefighters have fully contained a brush fire that was burning in the hills above the Newhall Pass in Santa Clarita. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 The warnings come as a brush fire — the Ridge fire — temporarily forced a closure of the Grapevine section of the 5 Freeway on Friday evening and triggered an evacuation order in the Gorman area. — Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026 Frohnmayer was brought in by the Bush Administration to keep what was still a small brush fire from reaching the White House. — Louis Menand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for brushfire

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1954, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of brushfire was in 1850

Rhymes for brushfire

See All Rhymes for brushfire

Browse Nearby Words

brusher
brushfire
brush fire
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Brushfire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brushfire. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of zeugma

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Words of the Week - Aug. 14

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All