brier

1

or bri·ar

[ brahy-er ]
See synonyms for brier on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a prickly plant or shrub, especially the sweetbrier or a greenbrier.

  2. a tangled mass of prickly plants.

  1. a thorny stem or twig.

Origin of brier

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English brer, breir, Old English brǣr, brēr; akin to bramble

Other words from brier

  • bri·er·y, adjective

Other definitions for brier (2 of 3)

brier2

or bri·ar

[ brahy-er ]

noun
  1. the white heath, Erica arborea, of France and Corsica, the woody root of which is used for making tobacco pipes.

  2. a pipe made of brierroot.

Origin of brier

2
First recorded in 1865–70; earlier bruyer, from French bruyère, Old French, from unattested Vulgar Latin brūcāria “field of heather, heath,” from Late Latin brūcus “heath,” from unattested Gaulish broiko- (from Celtic wroiko-, source of Old Irish froech, Welsh grug ) + Latin -āria feminine of Latin noun suffix -arius; see -ary, -er2, -ar2

Other definitions for brier (3 of 3)

brier3

or bri·ar

[ brahy-er ]

nounUsually Disparaging.
  1. (chiefly in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee) a term used to refer to a rustic, unsophisticated person, especially one from Appalachia.

Origin of brier

3
First recorded in 1895–1900; shortening of brier breaker,briar breaker, probably a reference to the brier bushes found in Southern Appalachia; see also brier2

usage note For brier

This term is usually used with disparaging intent to refer to those white people who migrated north and west from Southern Appalachia throughout the first half of the 20th century. These migrants, mostly from eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, were looking for jobs in southeastern Ohio and other places. Brier has negative connotations similar to words such as hillbilly and redneck . But brier has also been used as a term of self-reference by the migrants themselves and their descendants.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use brier in a sentence

  • With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land.

  • Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced?

  • Eudora was racing now through the briers, and weeds, and palmetto stumps, and dragging Mandy Ann with her.

    The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes
  • The advance was through nettles and briers, up steep muddy banks and over fallen timber.

    A Virginia Scout | Hugh Pendexter
  • But how many briers, how many thorns, how many cruel scratches and wounds before arriving at the end!

    The Nabob | Alphonse Daudet

British Dictionary definitions for brier (1 of 2)

brier1

briar

/ (ˈbraɪə) /


noun
  1. any of various thorny shrubs or other plants, such as the sweetbrier and greenbrier

Origin of brier

1
Old English brēr, brǣr, of obscure origin

Derived forms of brier

  • briery or briary, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for brier (2 of 2)

brier2

/ (ˈbraɪə) /


noun
  1. a variant spelling of briar 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012