BURLY

beefy, burly, husky, strapping, buirdly

(adjective) muscular and heavily built; “a beefy wrestler”; “had a tall burly frame”; “clothing sizes for husky boys”; “a strapping boy of eighteen”; “‘buirdly’ is a Scottish term”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Adjective

burly (comparative burlier, superlative burliest)

(usually, of a man) Large, well-built, and muscular.

(Britain, East End of London, slang) Great, amazing, unbelievable.

(US, slang, surf culture and/or Southern California) Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.

Etymology 2

Adjective

burly (comparative more burly, superlative most burly)

Full of burls or knots; knotty.

Source: Wiktionary


Bur"ly, a. Etym: [OE. burlich strong, excellent; perh. orig. fit for a lady's bower, hence handsome, manly, stout. Cf. Bower.]

1. Having a large, strong, or gross body; stout; lusty; -- now used chiefly of human beings, but formerly of animals, in the sense of stately or beautiful, and of inanimate things that were huge and bulky. "Burly sacks." Drayton. In his latter days, with overliberal diet, [he was] somewhat corpulent and burly. Sir T. More. Burly and big, and studious of his ease. Cowper.

2. Coarse and rough; boisterous. It was the orator's own burly way of nonsense. Cowley.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

28 April 2024

POLYGENIC

(adjective) of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.

coffee icon