Bush n.
 1. A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild forest.
 Note: ☞ This was the original sense of the word, as in the Dutch bosch, a wood, and was so used by Chaucer. In this sense it is extensively used in the British colonies, especially at the Cape of Good Hope, and also in Australia and Canada; as, to live or settle in the bush.
 2. A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.
    To bind a bush of thorns among sweet-smelling flowers.   --Gascoigne.
 3. A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as, bushes to support pea vines.
 4. A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself.
    If it be true that good wine needs no bush, 't is true that a good play needs no epilogue.   --Shak.
 5. Hunting The tail, or brush, of a fox.
 To beat about the bush, to approach anything in a round-about manner, instead of coming directly to it; -- a metaphor taken from hunting.
 Bush bean Bot., a variety of bean which is low and requires no support (Phaseolus vulgaris, variety nanus). See Bean, 1.
 Bush buck, or Bush goat Zool., a beautiful South African antelope (Tragelaphus sylvaticus); -- so called because found mainly in wooden localities. The name is also applied to other species.
 Bush cat Zool., the serval. See Serval.
 Bush chat Zool., a bird of the genus Pratincola, of the Thrush family.
 Bush dog. Zool. See Potto.
 Bush hammer. See Bushhammer in the Vocabulary.
 Bush harrow Agric. See under Harrow.
 Bush hog Zool., a South African wild hog (Potamochœrus Africanus); -- called also bush pig, and water hog.
 Bush master Zool., a venomous snake (Lachesis mutus) of Guinea; -- called also surucucu.
 Bush pea Bot., a variety of pea that needs to be bushed.
 Bush shrike Zool., a bird of the genus Thamnophilus, and allied genera; -- called also batarg. Many species inhabit tropical America.
 Bush tit Zool., a small bird of the genus Psaltriparus, allied to the titmouse. Psaltriparus minimus inhabits California.


 Chat, n.
 1. Light, familiar talk; conversation; gossip.
 Snuff, or fan, supply each pause of chat,
 With singing, laughing, ogling, and all that.   --Pope.
 2. Zool. A bird of the genus Icteria, allied to the warblers, in America.  The best known species are the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria viridis), and the long-tailed chat (Icteria longicauda). In Europe the name is given to several birds of the family Saxicolidæ, as the stonechat, and whinchat.
 Bush chat. Zool. See under Bush.