BRISTLE

bristle

(noun) a stiff hair

bristle

(noun) a stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament); natural or synthetic

bristle

(verb) react in an offended or angry manner; “He bristled at her suggestion that he should teach her how to use the program”

bristle, uprise, stand up

(verb) rise up as in fear; “The dog’s fur bristled”; “It was a sight to make one’s hair uprise!”

bristle

(verb) have or be thickly covered with or as if with bristles; “bristling leaves”

abound, burst, bristle

(verb) be in a state of movement or action; “The room abounded with screaming children”; “The garden bristled with toddlers”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Proper noun

Bristle

(slang, humorous) Bristol, England (in imitation of the local dialect)

Anagrams

• Bitlers, Liberts, blister, reblits, riblets

Etymology

Noun

bristle (plural bristles)

A stiff or coarse hair.

The hairs or other filaments that make up a brush, broom, or similar item.

Verb

bristle (third-person singular simple present bristles, present participle bristling, simple past and past participle bristled)

To rise or stand erect, like bristles.

To appear as if covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles.

(with at) To be on one's guard or raise one's defenses; to react with fear, suspicion, or distance.

To fix a bristle to.

Anagrams

• Bitlers, Liberts, blister, reblits, riblets

Source: Wiktionary

Bris"tle, n. Etym: [OE. bristel, brustel, AS. bristl, byrst; akin to D. borstel, OHG. burst, G. borste, Icel. burst, Sw. borst, and to Skr. bh edge, point, and prob, L. fastigium extremity, Gr. brush, burr, perh. to brad. sq. root96.]

1. A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. Gray.

Bris"tle, v. 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. Shak. Boy, bristle thy courage up. Shak.

2. To fix a bristle to; as, to bristle a thread.

Bris"tle, v. 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 deflance or indignation. To bristle up, to show anger or deflance.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition