English
burr
see also: Burr
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /bɝ/
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.
    • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, X:
      But cockle, spurge, according to their law / Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, / You'd think; a burr had been a treasure trove.
  3. A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.
  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 ear lobe.
  7. The knot at the bottom of an antler.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Noun

burr (plural burrs)

  1. A rough humming sound.
  2. A uvular "r".
Translations
  • French: grasseyement
  • Italian: erre moscia
  • Portuguese: rotacismo
  • Russian: карта́вость
  • Spanish: erre francesa
Verb

burr (burrs, present participle burring; 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
  • French: grasseyer
  • German: ratschen
  • Italian: parlare con la erre moscia
  • Russian: карта́вить
  • Spanish: arrastrar las erres
Noun

burr (plural burrs)

  1. (historic) A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:23.4?rgn=div2;view=fulltext 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
Noun

burr (plural burrs)

  1. (British) Alternative spelling of burl
Burr
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /bɝ/
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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