bristly
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English bristli, brustly, equivalent to bristle + -y.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪsli/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
[edit]bristly (comparative bristlier, superlative bristliest)
- Covered with bristles.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 285:
- He was a short man with a long hooked nose. A blue skull-cap with a red border scarcely covered his head of bristly grey hair, and a short-bodied but long Ringerike coat of dark grey frieze with worn velvet borders served to make the roundness and crookedness of his back still more conspicuous.
- 1966 April 3, Art Vinsel, “Gadzooks! Where Did All the Hirsutes Come From?”, in Independent-Press-Telegram, volume 14, number 31, Long Beach, Calif., page eight:
- ONE DAY a caveman sat scratching his bristly cheeks with a sharp shell. Maybe it was the shell of a razor clam. But at least it took the whiskers off dandily. And pretty soon a little cavegirl wandered by and rubbed the caveman’s smooth cheek fondly.
- Easily antagonized; irascible; prone to bristling.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]covered with bristles — see also spiky
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easily antagonized; irascible; prone to bristling
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