brush pass

American

[bruhsh pas] / ˈbrʌʃ ˌpæs /

noun

any of various methods by which a physical item is passed surreptitiously from one intelligence agent to another as they walk past each other, typically in a crowd where their movements are difficult to observe.

Etymology

Origin of brush pass

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Just working on the brush pass.”

From Literature

Then he slipped it into her pocket using a perfectly executed brush pass.

From Literature

Their weapons were the tradecraft of spies—the dead drop, the brush pass, the one-time pad—and their missions almost always had the same goal: to obtain vital information about the enemy.

From Literature

It portrays a black senior official addressing a class of new recruits and an African-American case officer doing a secret brush pass to hand off a thumb drive.

From New York Times

He can then paint with it just as he would with water in water-colour painting; and if he finds that any portion of his colours, after they are dry, are not sufficiently fixed upon the wall, he can then with a brush pass over them a coating of the clear liquid, used a little stronger.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023