Hypertext Webster Gateway: "bristle"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bristle \Bris"tle\ (br[i^]s"s'l), n. [OE. bristel, brustel, AS.
bristl, byrst; akin to D. borstel, OHG. burst, G. borste,
Icel. burst, Sw. borst, and to Skr. bh[.r]shti edge, point,
and prob, L. fastigium extremity, Gr. 'a`flaston stern of a
ship, and E. brush, burr, perh. to brad. [root]96.]
1. A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine.
2. (Bot.) A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. --Gray.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bristle \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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bristle \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 defiance or indignation.
{To bristle up}, to show anger or defiance.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bristle
n 1: a stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament); natural or
synthetic
2: a stiff hair
v 1: be in a state of movement or action; "The room abounded with
screaming children"; "The garden bristled with toddlers"
[syn: {abound}, {burst}]
2: rise up; of animals fur or hair; as in fear; "The dog's fur
bristled"; "It was a sight to make one's hair uprise!"
[syn: {uprise}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.