burr

plural burrs

1. A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter.
2. alternativeAlternative form of bur (“rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants”).

   […] 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

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: sticker

3. A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation.

   You left a bunch of burrs on those parts yesterday. You've already been told not to miss the deburring operation.

   1 more example

   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. historicalA broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping.
6. historicalA metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear.

   burr or ring of iron behind the hand

   1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry

   5 more examples

   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

   The front of it was defended by an iron-plate, called a vam-plat, that is, an avant-plate, and behind it was a broad iron ring, called a burr.

   1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia

   We are made to witness a cathartic shuffling-off of mortalities and of hatreds: Mordred's pulling himself up to the 'burr' of Arthur's spear is Malory's own detail and one of the most memorable in the book.

   2003, Thomas Howard Crofts, Fifteenth-century Malory, page 290

   And when his body was against the burr of the spear, he took his sword in both his hands and he swung the sword above his head, and he smote King Arthur with the edge of the sword upon the helmet.

   2012, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur

   Many saddles, especially those for use on warhorses, had high burr plates and cantles. this was especially important when knights began using stirrups and the couched lance.

   2015, James B. Tschen-Emmons, Artifacts from Medieval Europe, page 280

7. The ear lobe.
8. 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

9. The knot at the bottom of an antler.
10. engineeringA revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces used to grind hard products in a grinder or mill.

    burr grinder

    1 more example

    The coffee guys insist that the single most important investment you can make if you brew coffee at home is a burr coffee grinder that crushes whole coffee beans by moving them through a grinding wheel. The burr chops the coffee into uniformly sized pieces, which enables the water to run through it and extract evenly.

    2011, Michaele Weissman, God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee, HMH, →ISBN

present singular third person burrs · participle present burring · participle past burred · past burred

1. transitiveengineeringTo grind using a burr (revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces).

plural burrs

1. A rough humming sound.
2. A uvular "r" sound, or (by extension) an accent characterized by this sound.

   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

   4 more examples

   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

   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 January 9, 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.

   2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65

present singular third person burrs · participle present burring · participle past burred · past burred

1. transitiveTo pronounce with a uvular "r".
2. intransitiveTo 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

plural burrs

1. Synonym of brough (“halo around the sun or moon”)

   The larger the burr the nearer the rain.

   1888, William Douglas Parish, William Francis Shaw, A Dictionary of the Kentish Dialect and Provincialisms in Use in the County of Kent, page 23

   2 more examples

   Far burr, near rain; Near burr, far rain.

   1893, Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon, County Folk-lore: Printed Extracts. Suffolk. No. 2, page 162

   ... If t'bur o' t'muin be far away / Mek heaste an' house yer cworn an' hay; / Bit if t'bur be nar t'muin / We'll hev a clash bit nit sae suin. Prevost, p. 48. Prevost, p. 48.

   1949, Wilfrid J. Halliday, Arthur Stanley Umpleby, The White Rose Garland of Yorkshire Dialect Verse and Local and Folk-lore Rhymes

   Synonyms: brough

plural burrs

1. UKalternativeAlternative spelling of burl.

1. A surname.

   The US Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its insider trading investigation into stock trades made by then-Sen. Richard Burr and his brother-in-law at the outset of the pandemic, the former senator announced Friday.

   2023 January 6, Manu Raju and Devan Cole, “SEC closes insider trading probe into former Republican senator”, in CNN

   1 more example

   One Nation, a new 501(c)4 linked to the Karl-Rove-backed American Crossroads super PAC, is spending more than $1.9 million on print, radio and digital ads highlighting the efforts of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to pass the “doc fix” legislation that realigned payments to Medicare providers with inflation.

   2015 May 12, Alexandra Jaffe, “First on CNN: New Rove-linked group spends $2M to boost GOP incumbents”, in CNN

2. A number of places in the United States:
   1. An unincorporated community in Florida Township, Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.
   2. An unincorporated community in Ripley County, Missouri.
   3. A village in Otoe County, Nebraska, named after burr oak trees.
   4. An unincorporated community in Wharton County, Texas.
   5. An unincorporated community in Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
3. A community in Rural Municipality of Wolverine No. 340, central Saskatchewan, Canada.