# live over the brush

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/live-over-the-brush
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To cohabit without being married.

## Examples

- They live over the brush in a small apartment.
- Although they have been together for ten years, they prefer to live over the brush rather than get married.
- Despite the traditional expectations of their families, the couple chose to live over the brush, prioritizing their personal commitment over a formal wedding ceremony.

## Origin

The expression is probably derived from the broomstick wedding, in which the broomstick functions as a linguistic marker for the ersatz or the sham. A popular but unproven story maintains that the phrase refers to an early British or Romani wedding practice where a couple attained a union outside the Church by leaping over a broom or brush. While the image of the leaping couple remains a staple of folk histories, no evidence exists for such a ceremony. The brush appears to be a symbolic boundary for those who, for reasons of convenience or social exclusion, preferred to conduct their domestic arrangements without the intervention of the clergy. (disputed)

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