Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

live over the brush

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.20 in modern English

Syllables: live over the brush
IPA

30

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

1

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cohabit without being married.

Example Sentences

"I know what people think about the North. They think it's all muck and living over the brush with women like Elsie Tanner."
"After the birth of their son, Stanley, the couple moved to Bradford and "lived over the brush" in West Bowling in a back-to-back terraced house."
"I was saying to my Albert, I wouldn't be surprised if him and that so-called wife of his was living over the brush."

Etymology

Possibly ultimately derived from broomstick wedding, with broomstick meaning ersatz or sham. Often said to be derived from early British or Romani wedding practices, in which a couple could become married outside the Church by leaping a broom or brush, but no evidence exists for such a ceremony.

Inflected Forms

lives over the brush (present, singular) living over the brush (participle, present) lived over the brush (participle, past) lived over the brush (past)

Synonyms

live in sin

Questions

What does live over the brush mean?: To cohabit without being married.
Where does live over the brush come from?: Possibly ultimately derived from broomstick wedding, with broomstick meaning ersatz or sham. Often said to be derived from early British or Romani wedding practices, in which a couple could become married outside the Church by leaping a broom or brush, but no evidence exists for such a ceremony.

How to pronounce live over the brush

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “live over the brush”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “live over the brush”.
Repeat and practice — Say “live over the brush” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.