Burr Meaning
/bɝ/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
nounAlternative form of bur (“rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants”).
Sentence Examples
The British ambassador liked Burr's plan.
All had voted for Aaron Burr.
Burr decided not to wait for an answer.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
He carefully removed a ____ from his wool sweater after the hike.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Aaron ____ was a major political figure in the early United States.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English burre, perhaps related to Old English byrst (“bristle”). Cognate with Danish burre, borre (“burdock, burr”), Swedish borre (“sea-urchin”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[…] 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:
"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:
"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 handes"
— 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IV, in Le Morte Darthur, book XXI:
"burr or ring of iron behind the hand"
— 1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He carefully removed a ____ from his wool sweater after the hike.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Aaron ____ was a major political figure in the early United States.