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noun
1.
one of the short, stiff, coarse hairs of certain animals, especially 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 followed 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 followed by up).
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Bristling
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
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:
before 1000; Middle English bristel, equivalent to brist (Old English byrst bristle, cognate with German Borste, Old Norse burst) + -el diminutive suffix
before 1000; Middle English bristel, equivalent to brist (Old English byrst bristle, cognate with German Borste, Old Norse burst) + -el diminutive suffix
Related forms
bris·tle·less, adjective
bris·tle·like, adjective
non·bris·tled, adjective
un·bris·tled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To bristling
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
bristle
O.E. byrst "bristle," with metathesis of -r-, from P.Gmc. *bors- (cf. M.Du. borstel, Ger. borste), from PIE *bhrsti- from base *bhar- "point, bristle" (cf. Skt. bhrstih "point, spike"). With -el, dim. suffix. The verb "become angry or excited" is 1540s, from the way animals show fight. Related: Bristled;
EXPANDbristling.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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