he brushed by me
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
He just touched me as he went quickly past. Hence also brush, a slight skirmish.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “he brushed by me” mean?
He just touched me as he went quickly past. Hence also brush, a slight skirmish.
Is “he brushed by me” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.