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bristle - 7 dictionary results

bris⋅tle

  [bris-uhl] noun, verb, -tled, -tling.
Use bristle in a Sentence
–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

Related forms:
bris⋅tle⋅less, adjective
bris⋅tle⋅like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bristle
bris·tle   (brĭs'əl)   
n.  
  1. A stiff hair.
  2. A stiff hairlike structure: the bristles of a wire brush.
v.   bris·tled, bris·tling, bris·tles

v.   intr.
  1. To stand stiffly on end like bristles: The hair on the dog's neck bristled.
  2. To raise the bristles: The cat bristled at the sight of the large dog.
  3. To react in an angry or offended manner: The author bristled at the suggestion of plagiarism.
  4. To be covered or thick with or as if with bristles: The path bristled with thorns.
v.   tr.
  1. To cause to stand erect like bristles; stiffen.
  2. To furnish or supply with bristles.
  3. To make bristly; ruffle.

[Middle English bristel, probably from Old English *byrstel, from byrst, 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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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
More Translations »

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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