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Webster 1913 Edition

Burr

{

Bur

,

Burr

}
(bûr)
,
Noun.
[OE.
burre
burdock; cf. Dan.
borre
, OSw.
borra
, burdock, thistle; perh. akin to E.
bristle
(
burr-
for
burz-
), or perh. to F.
bourre
hair, wool, stuff; also, according to Cotgrave, “the downe, or hairie coat, wherewith divers herbes, fruits, and flowers, are covered,” fr. L.
burrae
trifles, LL.
reburrus
rough.]
1.
(Bot.)
Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock; a seed vessel having hooks or prickles. Also, any weed which bears burs.
Amongst rude
burs
and thistles.
Milton.
Bur
and brake and brier.
Tennyson.
2.
The thin ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal. See
Burr
,
Noun.
, 2.
3.
A ring of iron on a lance or spear. See
Burr
,
Noun.
, 4.
4.
The lobe of the ear. See
Burr
,
Noun.
, 5.
5.
The sweetbread.
6.
A clinker; a partially vitrified brick.
7.
(Mech.)
(a)
A small circular saw.
(b)
A triangular chisel.
(c)
A drill with a serrated head larger than the shank; – especially a small drill bit used by dentists.
8.
[Cf. Gael.
borr
,
borra
, a knob, bunch.]
(Zool.)
The round knob of an antler next to a deer’s head.
[Commonly written
burr
.]
Bur oak
(Bot.)
,
a useful and ornamental species of oak (
Quercus macrocarpa
) with ovoid acorns inclosed in deep cups imbricated with pointed scales. It grows in the Middle and Western United States, and its wood is tough, close-grained, and durable.
–
Bur reed
(Bot.)
,
a plant of the genus
Sparganium
, having long ribbonlike leaves.

Burr

(bûr)
,
Noun.
[See
Bur
.]
(Bot.)
1.
A prickly seed vessel. See
Bur
, 1.
2.
The thin edge or ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal, as in turning, engraving, pressing, etc.; also, the rough neck left on a bullet in casting.
The graver, in plowing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or
burrs
.
Tomlinson.
3.
A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down.
4.
A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the gripe, to prevent the hand from slipping.
5.
The lobe or lap of the ear.
6.
[Probably of imitative origin.]
A guttural pronounciation of the letter r, produced by trilling the extremity of the soft palate against the back part of the tongue; rotacism; – often called the
Newcastle burr
,
Northumberland burr
, or
Tweedside burr
.
7.
The knot at the bottom of an antler. See
Bur
,
Noun.
, 8.

Burr

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Burred
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Burring
.]
To speak with burr; to make a hoarse or guttural murmur.
Mrs. Browning.

Webster 1828 Edition

Burr

BURR

,
Noun.
The lobe or lap of the ear.
1.
The round knob of a horn next a deer's head.
2.
The sweetbread.
Burr-pump, or bilge-pump. A pump, having a staff of 6,7 or 8 feet long with a bar of wood to which the leather is nailed,which serves instead of a box. This staff is worked by men who pull it up and down, with a rope fastened to the middle of it.

Definition 2025

Burr

Burr

See also: burr

English

Proper noun

Burr

  1. A surname​.

Plautdietsch

Noun

Burr n

  1. thick, heavy felt

burr

burr

See also: Burr

English

Noun

burr ‎(plural burrs)

  1. A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
  2. A bur; a seed pod with sharp features that stick in fur or clothing.
  3. A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.
    • Tomlinson
      The graver, in ploughing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs.
  4. A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down.
  5. A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping.
  6. The earlobe.
  7. The knot at the bottom of an antler.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeia, influenced by bur.

Noun

burr ‎(plural burrs)

  1. A rough humming sound.
  2. A uvular "r".
Translations

Verb

burr ‎(third-person singular simple present burrs, present participle burring, simple past and past participle burred)

  1. (transitive) To pronounce with a uvular "r".
  2. (intransitive) To make a rough humming sound.
    • 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Collins, 1998, Chapter 7,
      The first thing Lucy noticed as she went in was a burring sound, and the first thing she saw was a kind-looking old she-beaver sitting in the corner with a thread in her mouth working busily at her sewing machine, and it was from it that the sound came.
Translations

Etymology 3

Origin uncertain.

Noun

burr ‎(plural burrs)

  1. (obsolete) A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iv, in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
      And there kyng Arthur smote syr mordred vnder the shelde wyth a foyne of his spere thorughoute the body more than a fadom / And whan syr Mordred felte that he had hys dethes wounde / He thryst hym self wyth the myght that he had vp to the bur of kynge Arthurs spere / And right so he smote his fader Arthur wyth his swerde holden in bothe his handes

Etymology 4

From burl.

Noun

burr ‎(plural burrs)

  1. (Britain) Alternative spelling of burl

Pronunciation

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