Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Extremely tired; exhausted.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Lost in the bush.
  • Hence Bewildered; at a loss; ‘lost’; all at sea.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective very tired from exertion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Very tired; exhausted.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective very tired

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Possibly from Australian slang, lost in the bush.]

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Examples

  • But they soon realised that they were "bushed" -- a term familiar enough to those who are acquainted with the story of Australian inland exploration.

    Terre Napoleón; a History of French Explorations and Projects in Australia Ernest Scott 1903

  • We were "bushed" -- had no idea which way to turn.

    The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon 1892

  • There was a time when I would have projected onto Rose motives of institutional fear that made him pretend like he was auditioning for Fox News, but I'm wondering if he was just plain too "bushed" to perform -- even when handed the hottest interviewee of the day.

    Archive 2005-05-15 Michael Evans 2005

  • There was a time when I would have projected onto Rose motives of institutional fear that made him pretend like he was auditioning for Fox News, but I'm wondering if he was just plain too "bushed" to perform -- even when handed the hottest interviewee of the day.

    View from the Northern Border Michael Evans 2005

  • Bob, and not to have done it after all -- only to die "bushed"!

    Queensland Cousins Eleanor Luisa Haverfield

  • But the only result of their labours was that they nearly got "bushed" themselves, and at last the fall of night made the absurdity of further search clear to them.

    Adventures in Many Lands Various

  • He went hunting cattle, and got himself "bushed," or marooned -- that is, lost -- and had a narrow escape from dying in the woods.

    On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. John Masefield 1922

  • The safe ways were "bushed" by a benevolent Government, and night and day the gay tinkle of the sleigh-bells sounded on it.

    Anne's House of Dreams 1915

  • The hum was like the far singing of a child-choir, and the dreamings it started then were altogether too big for the memory mechanism of a little boy's head; but the vastness and wonder of those dreamings left a kind of bushed beauty far back in his mind.

    Fate Knocks at the Door A Novel Will Levington Comfort 1905

  • And the sinking scattered feeling of the "bushed" clutched at her again.

    Saint's Progress John Galsworthy 1900

Comments

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  • I believe this has recently also been used as a synonym for stupid for some reason (seriously).

    January 30, 2008