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bristle - 7 dictionary results
bris⋅tle
[bris-uh
l]
noun, verb, -tled, -tling.–noun
| 1. | one of the short, stiff, coarse hairs of certain animals, esp. hogs, used extensively in making brushes. |
| 2. | anything resembling these hairs. |
–verb (used without object)
| 3. | to stand or rise stiffly, like bristles. |
| 4. | to erect the bristles, as an irritated animal (often fol. by up): The hog bristled up. |
| 5. | to become rigid with anger or irritation: The man bristled when I asked him to move. |
| 6. | to be thickly set or filled with something suggestive of bristles: The plain bristled with bayonets. The project bristled with difficulties. |
| 7. | to be visibly roused or stirred (usually fol. by up). |
–verb (used with object)
| 8. | to erect like bristles: The rooster bristled his crest. |
| 9. | to furnish with a bristle or bristles. |
| 10. | to make bristly. |
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME bristel, equiv. to brist (OE byrst bristle, c. G Borste, ON burst) + -el dim. suffix
bef. 1000; ME bristel, equiv. to brist (OE byrst bristle, c. G Borste, ON burst) + -el dim. suffix

Related forms:
bris⋅tle⋅less, adjective
bris⋅tle⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To bristle
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bristle
Bris"tle\ (br[i^]s"s'l), n. [OE. bristel, brustel, AS. bristl, byrst; akin to D. borstel, OHG. burst, G. borste, Icel. burst, Sw. borst, and to Skr. bh[.r]shti edge, point, and prob, L. fastigium extremity, Gr. 'a`flaston stern of a ship, and E. brush, burr, perh. to brad. [root]96.]1. A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine. 2. (Bot.) A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. --Gray.Bristle
Bris"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bristled; p. pr. & vb. n. Bristling.]1. To erect the bristles of; to cause to stand up, as the bristles of an angry hog; -- sometimes with up. Now for the bare-picked bone of majesty Doth dogged war bristle his angry crest. --Shak. Boy, bristle thy courage up. --Shak. 2. To fix a bristle to; as, to bristle a thread.Bristle
Bris"tle\, v. i. 1. To rise or stand erect, like bristles. His hair did bristle upon his head. --Sir W. Scott. 2. To appear as if covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles. The hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with ten thousand bayonets. --Thackeray. Ports bristling with thousands of masts. --Macaulay. 3. To show defiance or indignation. To bristle up, to show anger or defiance.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : bristle
Spanish:
cerda,
German:
die Borste,
Japanese:
剛毛
bristle
O.E. byrst "bristles," with metathesis of -r-, from P.Gmc. *bors- (cf. M.Du. borstel), from PIE *bhrsti- from base *bhar- "point, bristle" (cf. Skt. bhrstih "point, spike"). With -el, dim. suffix. The verb "become angry or excited" is 1549, from the way animals show fight.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: bris·tle
Pronunciation: 'bris-&l
Function: noun
: a short stiff coarse hair or filament
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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