burr

Etymology 1

From Middle English burre, perhaps related to Old English byrst (“bristle”). Cognate with Danish burre, borre (“burdock, burr”), Swedish borre (“sea-urchin”).

noun

1. A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
2. A bur; a seed pod with sharp features that stick in fur or clothing.
   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
3. A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.
   But the graver, in ploughing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs 1852, Charles Tomlinson, “Engraving”, in Cyclopædia of Useful Arts & Manufactures, page 607
4. 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.
5. A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping.
6. The ear lobe.
7. 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
8. The knot at the bottom of an antler.
9. (engineering) A revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces used to grind hard products in a grinder or mill.

verb

1. (transitive, engineering) To grind using a burr (revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces).

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic, influenced by bur. Compare to French bruire

noun

1. A rough humming sound.
2. 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
   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. 2004-01-09, 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. December 2 2020, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65

verb

1. (transitive) To pronounce with a uvular "r".
2. (intransitive) 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

Etymology 3

Uncertain.

noun

1. (historical) A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.
2. 1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry:
3. 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia:
4. 2003, Thomas Howard Crofts, Fifteenth-century Malory, page 290:
5. 2012, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur:
6. 2015, James B. Tschen-Emmons, Artifacts from Medieval Europe, page 280:

Etymology 4

From burl.

noun

1. (Britain) Alternative spelling of burl