Definify.com
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 , 2.
Burr
, Noun.
3.
A ring of iron on a lance or spear. See , 4.
Burr
, Noun.
4.
The lobe of the ear. See , 5.
Burr
, Noun.
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.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 , 8.
Bur
, Noun.
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.
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.