name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
bur
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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US: /bɝ/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian, Received-Pronunciation: /bɜː/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Scotland: /bʌr/
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New-Zealand: /bøː/
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/beː/ Liverpool, fair–fur merger
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/bɛː/ Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
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rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)
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homophone: burr
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homophone: Burr
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homophone: birr (fern–fir–fur merger)
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homophone: bare
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homophone: bear (both fair–fur merger)
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CMU ARPABET: B ER1 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Any of several plants having such husks.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A rotary cutting implement having a selection of variously shaped heads.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
Alternative form of burr (“small piece of material”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
small bit used in dentistry or surgery
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: burr
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: bit
noun
Meaning 7
seed vessel having hooks or prickles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: burr
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: pericarp, seed vessel
Narrower terms: Spanish needles, beggar-ticks
verb
Meaning 8
remove the burrs from
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: burr
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: remove, take, take away, withdraw
History
Etymology
Three possible origins: * Borrowed from French Bur, probably a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name. * Borrowed from Alemannic German Bur (“peasant, farmer”) and Low German Bur (“peasant, farmer”). * Borrowed from Slovak Búr, a surname of unexplained origin.
From Middle English burre, of unknown origin but probably from North Germanic (Scandinavian) source or from Old English byrst (“bristle”). See also burr. Compare English bristle, Danish burre (“bur, burdock”), Norwegian borre, Swedish borre, and Old Norse burst (“bristle”).