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Webster 1913 Edition

Bristle

Bris′tle

(brĭs′s’l)
,
Noun.
[OE.
bristel
,
brustel
, AS.
bristl
,
byrst
; akin to D.
borstel
, OHG.
burst
, G.
borste
, Icel.
burst
, Sw.
borst
, and to Skr.
bhṛshti
edge, point, and prob, L.
fastigium
extremity, Gr.
ἄφλαστον
stern of a ship, and E.
brush
,
burr
, perh. to
brad
. √96.]
1.
A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine.
2.
(Bot.)
A stiff, sharp, roundish hair.
Gray.

Bris′tle

,
Verb.
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.
Shakespeare
Boy,
bristle
thy courage up.
Shakespeare
2.
To fix a bristle to;
as, to
bristle
a thread
.

Bris′tle

,
Verb.
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 1828 Edition

Bristle

BRIS'TLE

,
Noun.
bris'l.
1.
The stiff glossy hair of swine, especially that growing on the back, used for making brushes; similar hair on other animals.
2.
A species of pubescence on plants, in form of stiff roundish hair.

BRIS'TLE

,
Verb.
T.
To erect in bristles; to erect in defiance or anger, like a swine; as, to bristle the crest.
1.
To fix a bristle; as, to bristle a thread.

BRIS'TLE

,
Verb.
I.
To rise or stand erect; as, the hair bristles.
1.
To raise the head and strut, as in anger or defiance; as, a man bristles up to another. In this sense the word is common in the U. States,but generally pronounced brustle.

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