burr
See also: Burr
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English burre, perhaps related to Old English byrst (“bristle”). Cognate with Danish burre, borre (“burdock, burr”), Swedish borre (“sea-urchin”).
Noun
burr (plural burrs)
- A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
- A bur; a seed pod with sharp features that stick in fur or clothing.
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, X:
- But cockle, spurge, according to their law / Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, / You'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove.
- 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, X:
- A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.
- 1852, Charles Tomlinson, “Engraving”, in Cyclopædia of Useful Arts & Manufactures, page 607:
- But the graver, in ploughing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs
-
- A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down.
- A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping.
- The ear lobe.
- The knot at the bottom of an antler.
Translations
sliver or splinter
seed pod with sharp features
material left on an edge after cutting
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Translations
mispronouncion of "r"
Verb
burr (third-person singular simple present burrs, present participle burring, simple past and past participle burred)
- (transitive) To pronounce with a uvular "r".
- (intransitive) To make a rough humming sound.
- 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Collins, 1998, Chapter 7,
- The first thing Lucy noticed as she went in was a burring sound, and the first thing she saw was a kind-looking old she-beaver sitting in the corner with a thread in her mouth working busily at her sewing machine, and it was from it that the sound came.
- 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Collins, 1998, Chapter 7,
Translations
to pronounce "r"
Etymology 3
Origin uncertain.
Noun
burr (plural burrs)
- (obsolete) A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iv, in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
- And there kyng Arthur smote syr mordred vnder the shelde wyth a foyne of his spere thorughoute the body more than a fadom / And whan syr Mordred felte that he had hys dethes wounde / He thryst hym self wyth the myght that he had vp to the bur of kynge Arthurs spere / And right so he smote his fader Arthur wyth his swerde holden in bothe his handes
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iv, in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
Etymology 4
From burl.
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