birse

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots birse (“bristle, hair”).

Noun

birse (plural birses)

1. (Scotland) bristle

Derived terms

• set up someone's birse

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for birse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams

• biers, brise

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Scots

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɪrs], [bʌrs]

Noun

birse (plural birses)

1. bristle, hair
2. sheaf, plume (of bristles)
3. beard
4. anger, temper

Derived terms

• birsies (“bristles”) (diminutive)
• pit the birse up (“to make angry or ill-tempered”)
• whirl o birse (“the ace of spades”)

Verb

birse (third-person singular present birses, present participle birsin, past birsed, past participle birsed)

1. to put a bristle on
2. to flare up, get angry

Derived terms

• birsie (“bristly, hairy; hot-tempered, passionate; of the weather: keen, sharp; difficult”)
• birsed-ends (“a shoemaker's thread”)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɪrz], [bʌrz]

Noun

birse (plural birses)

1. (medicine) bruise
2. pressure

Verb

birse (third-person singular present birses, present participle birsin, past birsed, past participle birsed)

1. to bruise
2. to push, press, squeeze

Derived terms

• birse ben a bit (“move along a bit”)
• birse tae (“push to”)