Meanings
present singular third person birles · participle present birling · participle past birled · past birled · alternative birl · alternative byrl
- ScotlandobsoleteTo pour a drink (for).
c.1882-1898, Francis James Child (collector and editor), Child's Ballads, Number 68: "Young Hunting", She has birld in him Young Hunting / The good ale and the beer, / Till he was as fou drunken / As any wild-wood steer.
- ScotlandobsoleteTo drink deeply or excessively; carouse.
c.1882-1898, Francis James Child (collector and editor), Child's Ballads, Number 73: "Lord Thomas and Fair Annet", They birled, they birled at Annies wake / The white bread and the wine, / And ere the morn at that same time / At his they birled the same.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*burilijaz“carrier, manservant”
- Old Englishbyrelian“to give or serve a drink to”
- Middle Englishbirlen
- Englishbirle
From Middle English birlen, from Old English byrelian (“to give or serve a drink to”), from byrele (“cupbearer, steward, butler”), from Proto-Germanic *burilijaz (“carrier, manservant”), from *burjô (“descendant, son”), from *beraną (“to bear, carry”). Related to Old English byre (“son, offspring, youth”). More at bear.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
birle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birle
“birle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “birle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/birle.
Source: birle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.