Bristle
Bristle (bris"s'l) , noun
[Old English bristel, brustel, Anglo-Saxon bristl, byrst; akin to Dutch borstel, Old High German burst, German borste, Icelandic burst, Swedish borst, and to Sanskrit bhrshti edge, point, and prob, Latin fastigium extremity, Greek 'a`flaston stern of a ship, and English brush, burr, perh. to brad. r96.]
1.
A short, stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine.
2.
(Botany) A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. — Gray
Bristle ({not transcribed}) , transitive verb
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.
Boy, bristle thy courage up.
2.
To fix a bristle to; as, to bristle a thread.
Bristle , intransitive verb
1.
To rise or stand erect, like bristles.
His hair did bristle upon his head.
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.
Ports bristling with thousands of masts.
3.
To show defiance or indignation.
Collocations (1)
To bristle up , to show anger or defiance.