Etymology From Middle English burre, perhaps related to Old English byrst (“bristle”). Cognate with Danish burre, borre (“burdock, burr”), Swedish borre (“sea-urchin”).
A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
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Alternative Alternative form of bur (“rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants”).
[…] nay Friar, I am a kind of Burre, I ſhal ſticke.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 78:
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.1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section X:
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A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.
You left a bunch of burrs on those parts yesterday. You've already been told not to miss the deburring operation.
But the graver, in ploughing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs1852, Charles Tomlinson, “Engraving”, in Cyclopædia of Useful Arts & Manufactures, page 607:
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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.
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Historical A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping.
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Historical A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.
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 handes1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IV, in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
burr or ring of iron behind the hand1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry:
4 more examples
The front of it was defended by an iron-plate, called a vam-plat, that is, an avant-plate, and behind it was a broad iron ring, called a burr.1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia:
We are made to witness a cathartic shuffling-off of mortalities and of hatreds: Mordred's pulling himself up to the 'burr' of Arthur's spear is Malory's own detail and one of the most memorable in the book.2003, Thomas Howard Crofts, Fifteenth-century Malory, page 290:
And when his body was against the burr of the spear, he took his sword in both his hands and he swung the sword above his head, and he smote King Arthur with the edge of the sword upon the helmet.2012, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur:
Many saddles, especially those for use on warhorses, had high burr plates and cantles. this was especially important when knights began using stirrups and the couched lance.2015, James B. Tschen-Emmons, Artifacts from Medieval Europe, page 280:
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The ear lobe.
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A burr knot or burl.
We notice wild bees gathering sap in a burr of the third mango tree[.]2022, Carol Maxwell, Northern Territory Literary Awards, page 58:
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The knot at the bottom of an antler.
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Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces used to grind hard products in a grinder or mill.
burr grinder
The coffee guys insist that the single most important investment you can make if you brew coffee at home is a burr coffee grinder that crushes whole coffee beans by moving them through a grinding wheel. The burr chops the coffee into uniformly sized pieces, which enables the water to run through it and extract evenly.2011, Michaele Weissman, God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee, HMH, →ISBN:
Etymology From Middle English burre, perhaps related to Old English byrst (“bristle”). Cognate with Danish burre, borre (“burdock, burr”), Swedish borre (“sea-urchin”).
1
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To grind using a burr (revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces).
burr
noun
Etymology Onomatopoeic, influenced by bur. Compare to French bruire.
1
A rough humming sound.
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A uvular "r" sound, or (by extension) an accent characterized by this sound.
Foote’s mimicry was exquisitely ludicrous, but it was all caricature. He could take off only some strange peculiarity, a stammer or a lisp, a Northumbrian burr or an Irish brogue, a stoop or a shuffle.1843 January, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Madame D'Arblay”, in Critical and Historical Essays, volume 2:
“That man Glass has been with him again; I heard them talking through the door quite plain. Two separate voices: for James speaks low, with a burr, and the other voice was high and quavery.”1914, G. K. Chesterton, “The Absence of Mr Glass”, in The Wisdom of Father Brown:
3 more examples
He spoke with the deep rich burr of his race and with a structure of speech that I cannot reproduce here.1920, Melville Davisson Post, “The House by the Loch”, in The Sleuth of St. James's Square:
The Scottish burr may often prove incomprehensible to English ears, but the Foreign Office apparently considers the accent so impenetrable that it has rejected a Russian student's application to study in Scotland on the grounds that she might not understand the language.2004 January 9, Kirsty Scott, “Why ye cannae learn English in Scotland”, in The Guardian:
Judging by the new voice over the PA, we've had a crew change in Plymouth - the warning about masks and the apology for lack of catering is made in a chirpy Cockney twang rather than a West Country burr.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65:
burr
verb
Etymology Onomatopoeic, influenced by bur. Compare to French bruire.
1
To pronounce with a uvular "r".
2
To make a rough humming sound.
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.1950, C. S. Lewis, chapter 7, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Collins, published 1998:
burr
noun
Etymology Like brough, an alternative form of burgh (“mound, settlement”) employed in a special sense; thus a doublet of those terms, borough, Brough, burrow, and Bury.
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Synonym of brough (“halo around the sun or moon”)
Far burr, near rain; Near burr, far rain.1893, Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon, County Folk-lore: Printed Extracts. Suffolk. No. 2, page 162:
The larger the burr the nearer the rain.1888, William Douglas Parish, William Francis Shaw, A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms in Use in the County of Kent, page 23:
1 more example
... If t'bur o' t'muin be far away / Mek heaste an' house yer cworn an' hay; / Bit if t'bur be nar t'muin / We'll hev a clash bit nit sae suin. Prevost, p. 48. Prevost, p. 48.1949, Wilfrid J. Halliday, Arthur Stanley Umpleby, The White Rose Garland of Yorkshire Dialect Verse and Local and Folk-lore Rhymes: