Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Bur

Bur, Burr, n. [OE. burre burdock; cf. Dan. borre, OSw. borra, burdock, thistle; perh. akin to E. bristle (burr- for burz-), or perh. to F. bourre hair, wool, stuff; also, according to Cotgrave, "the downe, or hairie coat, wherewith divers herbes, fruits, and flowers, are covered," fr. L. burrae trifles, LL. reburrus rough.] 1. (Bot.) Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a pericarp, a persistent calyx, or an involucre, as of the chestnut and burdock. Also, any weed which bears burs.

Amongst rude burs and thistles. Milton.

Bur and brake and brier. Tennyson.

2. The thin ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal. See Burr, n., 2.

3. A ring of iron on a lance or spear. See Burr, n., 4.

4. The lobe of the ear. See Burr, n., 5.

5. The sweetbread.

6. A clinker; a partially vitrified brick.

7. (Mech.) (a) A small circular saw. (b) A triangular chisel. (c) A drill with a serrated head larger than the shank; — used by dentists.

8. [Cf. Gael. borr, borra, a knob, bunch.] (Zoöl.) The round knob of an antler next to a deer's head. [Commonly written burr.]

Bur oak (Bot.), a useful and ornamental species of oak (Quercus macrocarpa) with ovoid acorns inclosed in deep cups imbricated with pointed scales. It grows in the Middle and Western United States, and its wood is tough, close-grained, and durable. — Bur reed (Bot.), a plant of the genus Sparganium, having long ribbonlike leaves.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.