bristle
Americannoun
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one of the short, stiff, coarse hairs of certain animals, especially hogs, used extensively in making brushes.
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anything resembling these hairs.
verb (used without object)
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to stand or rise stiffly, like bristles.
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to erect the bristles, as an irritated animal (often followed byup ).
The hog bristled up.
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to become rigid with anger or irritation.
The man bristled when I asked him to move.
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to be thickly set or filled with something suggestive of bristles.
The plain bristled with bayonets. The project bristled with difficulties.
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to be visibly roused or stirred (usually followed byup ).
verb (used with object)
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to erect like bristles.
The rooster bristled his crest.
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to furnish with a bristle or bristles.
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to make bristly.
noun
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any short stiff hair of an animal or plant
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something resembling these hair
toothbrush bristle
verb
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to stand up or cause to stand up like bristles
the angry cat's fur bristled
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to show anger, indignation, etc
she bristled at the suggestion
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(intr) to be thickly covered or set
the target bristled with arrows
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(intr) to be in a state of agitation or movement
the office was bristling with activity
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(tr) to provide with a bristle or bristles
Other Word Forms
- bristleless adjective
- bristlelike adjective
- bristly adjective
- nonbristled adjective
- unbristled adjective
Etymology
Origin of bristle
before 1000; Middle English bristel, equivalent to brist ( Old English byrst bristle, cognate with German Borste, Old Norse burst ) + -el diminutive suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then he took a stick with bristles at one end and combined the colored goo together in the middle, creating new colors.
From Literature
"But no, the war is still ongoing," said the strong-armed baker, sporting a short bristle of beard.
From Barron's
We gather her keen interest isn’t entirely touristy but also, because Hinds is so good, that his wisecracks about religion — which she bristles at — have a basis in something personal, too.
From Los Angeles Times
His wife hated the new bristles, but he let them grow fuller and wilder.
“He’s still accusing us of cheating, and I didn’t like it,” Kennedy bristled.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
