bush

Everyday

1. A bush is a plant like a small tree with many branches close to the ground. tree →
2. The bush (in Australia, New Zealand and Africa) is wild land far from towns, with trees and shrubs. tree →
3. A bush of hair is a thick mass of it. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: counted plants; berries or flowers on each bush (total = bushes × each); bushes planted in rows (an array). In science: plants, habitats, animals that hide in bushes. In everyday life: rose bushes, blackberry bushes, bushwalking in Australia, bushfires. Phrases: «beat around the bush» (not say something directly), «a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush», «bush fire», «bushwalk».

Examples

• Each bush has 20 berries. tree →
• She planted 3 rows of 8 bushes. tree →
• There are 15 rose bushes. tree →
• How many berries on 6 bushes? tree →
• A rabbit hid under the bush. tree →
• We went bushwalking in the Blue Mountains. tree →
• Stop beating around the bush and tell me! tree →
• Bushfires can spread fast in hot, dry weather. tree →
• "I've found a currant bush; don't pick it." tree →

Note

Plural «bushes» (add -es). «Shrub» is another word for a bush. Maths: group with a size: total = bushes × each; rows × bushes in a row. Trap: only some bushes may have berries — read which ones. Safety: in the bush, stay on the track and carry water.

In Jewish tradition

"The bush" means the burning bush where God first spoke to Moses. It burned but was not eaten up by the fire.

Interpretation. The rabbis read the bush that burned without being consumed as a sign of Israel, who was in the fire of Egypt but was not destroyed. Some say the thorny bush was lowly, to show that God is with the humble.

Examples

• And Moses said: 'I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.' (Torah EXO.3.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said: 'Moses, Moses.' And he said: 'Here am I.' (Torah EXO.3.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Torah EXO.3.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• Among the bushes they bray; under the nettles they are gathered together. (Writings JOB.30.7, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Plural «bushes» (add -es). «Shrub» is another word for a bush. Maths: group with a size: total = bushes × each; rows × bushes in a row. Trap: only some bushes may have berries — read which ones. Safety: in the bush, stay on the track and carry water.