hérisser

Vulgar Latin *ericiare, from erīcius.

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /e.ʁi.se/

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hérisser

1. (of an animal) to bristle, ruffle (feathers, fur etc.)
   • 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary:

     La pluie ne tombait plus; le jour commençait à venir, et, sur les branches des pommiers sans feuilles, des oiseaux se tenaient immobiles, hérissant leurs petites plumes au vent froid du matin. (The rain was no longer falling; the day was starting to dawn, and, on the leafless branches of the apple-trees, the birds were still, ruffling their small feathers in the cold morning wind.)

   • Joachim du Bellay, les regrets

     Je sens venir l'hiver, de qui la froide haleine / une tremblante horreur fait hérisser ma peau.

2. to spike; to form spikes in
3. (colloquial) to get somebody's back up

• “hérisser” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).