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burr

 - 15 dictionary results

burr

1  [bur]
Use burr in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also, buhr. a protruding, ragged edge raised on the surface of metal during drilling, shearing, punching, or engraving.
2. a rough or irregular protuberance on any object, as on a tree.
3. a small, hand-held, power-driven milling cutter, used by machinists and die makers for deepening, widening, or undercutting small recesses.
4. a lump of brick fused or warped in firing.
–verb (used with object)
5. to form a rough point or edge on.
6. deburr.
Also, bur (for defs. 1, 3).

Origin:
1605–15; sp. var. of bur 1

burr

2  [bur]
–noun
1. a washer placed at the head of a rivet.
2. a blank punched out of a piece of sheet metal.
Also, bur.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME burrewez (pl.), buruhe circle, var. of brough round tower; see broch

burr

3  [bur]
–noun
1. a pronunciation of the r-sound as a uvular trill, as in certain Northern English dialects.
2. a pronunciation of the r-sound as an alveolar flap or trill, as in Scottish English.
3. any pronunciation popularly considered rough or nonurban.
4. a whirring noise.
–verb (used without object)
5. to speak with a burr.
6. to speak roughly, indistinctly, or inarticulately.
7. to make a whirring sound.
–verb (used with object)
8. to pronounce (words, sounds, etc.) with a burr.
Origin:
1750–60; appar. both imit. and associative, the sound being thought of as rough like a bur

burr

4  [bur]
–noun
burstone.
Also, buhr.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME burre, prob. so called from its roughness

Burr

  [bur]
–noun
Aaron, 1756–1836, vice president of the U.S. 1801–05.

bur⋅stone

  [bur-stohn]
–noun
1. any of various siliceous rocks used for millstones.
2. a millstone of such material.
Also, buhrstone, burrstone.
Also called buhr, burr.

Origin:
bur(r) 4 + stone
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To burr
bur 1 also burr   (bûr)   
n.  

    1. A rough prickly husk or covering surrounding the seeds or fruits of plants such as the chestnut or the burdock.

    2. A plant producing such husks or coverings.

  2. A persistently clinging or nettlesome person or thing.

  3. A rough protuberance, especially a burl on a tree.

  4. Any of various rotary cutting tools designed to be attached to a drill.


[Middle English burre, of Scandinavian origin.]
burr 1   (bûr)   
n.  

  1. A rough edge or area remaining on material, such as metal, after it has been cast, cut, or drilled.

  2. Variant of bur1.

tr.v.   burred, burr·ing, burrs

  1. To form a burr on.

  2. To remove burrs from.


[Variant of bur1.]
burr 2 also bur   (bûr)   
n.  

  1. A trilling of the letter r, usually made with the tip of the tongue and characteristic of Scottish speech.

  2. A buzzing or whirring sound.

v.   burred, burr·ing, burrs also burs

v.   tr.
To pronounce with a burr.
v.   intr.

  1. To speak with a burr.

  2. To make a buzzing or whirring sound.


[Imitative.]
burr 3 also bur   (bûr)   
n.  A washer that fits around the smaller end of a rivet.

[Middle English burre, ring, disk, alteration of burwhe, circle, disk.]
Burr   (bûr)   
American politician who became Vice President of the United States (1801-1805) under Thomas Jefferson after a deadlock in the electoral college was broken by the House of Representatives. On July 11, 1804, Burr mortally wounded his rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and later fled south where he was involved in a mysterious conspiracy to establish an independent nation in Mexico and the Southwest. Tried for treason, he was acquitted for lack of evidence.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

burr 
"rough sound of the letter -r-" (especially that common in Northumberland), 1760, later extended to "northern accented speech" in general. Possibly the sound of the word is imitative of the speech peculiarity itself, or it was adapted from one of the senses of bur (q.v.), perhaps from the phrase to have a bur in (one's) throat (1393), which was a figure of speech for "feel a choking sensation, huskiness." The Scottish -r- is a lingual trill, not a true burr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: burr
variant of BUR
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

burr (bûr)
n.
Variant of bur.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
bur also burr   (bûr)  Pronunciation Key 
A type of pseudocarp in which the outer surface possesses hooks or barbs. Burs become caught in the feathers or hair of animals, which then carry them away to disperse the seeds.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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