Plain bearings, also referred to as bushes, bushings or sleeve bearings, are usually cylindrical in shape and contain no moving parts.

Standard configurations include cylindrical bearings for radial loads, flanged bearings for radial and light axial loads, thrust washers and flanged thrust washers for heavy axial loads and sliding plates of various shapes. They also can be made to custom designs, including special shapes, features (grooves, holes, notches, tabs, etc.) and dimensions.

Plain bearings are used for sliding, rotating, oscillating or reciprocating motion. In sliding applications they serve as slide bearings, bearing strips and wear plates. In these applications the sliding surfaces are usually flat, but can also be cylindrical, and movement is always linear rather than rotating. Rotating applications involve cylindrical surfaces and one or two directions of travel. Oscillating and reciprocating applications involve flat or cylindrical surfaces, but bi-directional travel.