bristle

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English bristil, bristel, brustel, from Old English bristl, byrst, *brystl, *byrstel, from Proto-West Germanic *burstilu, diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *bursti, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (compare Dutch borstel, German Borste (“boar's bristle”), Icelandic burst), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥stís (compare Middle Irish brostaid (“to goad, spur”), Latin fastīgium (“top”), Polish barszcz (“hogweed”)). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪsəl/ Rhymes: -ɪsəl (dated, rural folk speech of New England and Upstate New York) IPA(key): /ˈbɹʌsəl/ (dated, Southern US rural folk speech) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪstəl/ === Noun === bristle (plural bristles) A stiff or coarse hair on a nonhuman mammal or on a plant. A chaeta: an analogous filament on arthropods, annelids, or other animals. The hairs or other filaments that make up a brush, broom, or similar item, typically made from plant cellulose, animal hairs, or synthetic polymers. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === bristle (third-person singular simple present bristles, present participle bristling, simple past and past participle bristled) (intransitive) To rise or stand erect, like bristles. (intransitive, usually with with) To abound, to be covered with, or to have an abundance of, something, especially something jutting out. (intransitive, usually with at or with) To be on one's guard or raise one's defenses; to react with fear, suspicion, or distance. (transitive, now rare or obsolete) To make (something) rise or stand erect, like bristles. [from 16th-early 20th c.] (transitive, uncommon) To cause (someone) to be on one's guard or raise one's defenses. (rare) To fix a bristle or bristles to. For quotations using this term, see Citations:bristle. ==== Derived terms ==== bristle up bristling ==== Translations ==== === References === “bristle”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === Bitlers, Liberts, blister, reblits, riblets