### Clue: Brush – object briefly applied to kitchen surface (9)
### Answer: ENCOUNTER 
 ### Explanation: Definition: Brush
 "end"(an object/objective/a desired result) **minus ****its last letter**(briefly) **plus**(applied to) COUNTER(a long flat work surface found in, say, a kitchen).
Defn: …/a brief meeting with someone or something unpleasant, as in "a brush with a racist".