BRISTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bristle mean? 

• BRISTLE (noun)
  The noun BRISTLE has 2 senses:

1. a stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament); natural or synthetic

2. a stiff hair

  Familiarity information: BRISTLE used as a noun is rare.

• BRISTLE (verb)
  The verb BRISTLE has 4 senses:

1. be in a state of movement or action

2. rise up as in fear

3. have or be thickly covered with or as if with bristles

4. react in an offended or angry manner

  Familiarity information: BRISTLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRISTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A stiff fiber (coarse hair or filament); natural or synthetic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("bristle" is a kind of...):

fiber; fibre (a slender and greatly elongated substance capable of being spun into yarn)

Holonyms ("bristle" is a part of...):

brush (an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle)

Derivation:

bristly (having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A stiff hair

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("bristle" is a kind of...):

hair (a filamentous projection or process on an organism)

Derivation:

bristle (rise up as in fear)

• BRISTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bristle    ... he / she / it bristles   
Past simple: bristled   
Past participle: bristled   
-ing form: bristling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be in a state of movement or action

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

abound; bristle; burst

Context example:

The garden bristled with toddlers

Hypernyms (to "bristle" is one way to...):

feature; have (have as a feature)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The streets bristle with crowds

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rise up as in fear

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bristle; stand up; uprise

Context example:

It was a sight to make one's hair uprise!

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

bristle (a stiff hair)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Have or be thickly covered with or as if with bristles

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

bristling leaves

Hypernyms (to "bristle" is one way to...):

feature; have (have as a feature)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

React in an offended or angry manner

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

He bristled at her suggestion that he should teach her how to use the program

Hypernyms (to "bristle" is one way to...):

react; respond (show a response or a reaction to something)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

It was in a sort of fury, with its eyes savage, and all its hairs bristling out like a cat's tail when puss is on the war-path.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Three miles away he came upon a fresh trail that sent his neck hair rippling and bristling, It led straight toward camp and John Thornton.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A gun cracked among the rocks to the right, and Negore heard the war-yell of all his tribe, and for an instant saw the rocks and bushes bristle alive with his kinfolk.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Collar and shirt bore the grime of a long journey, and the hair bristled unkempt from the well-shaped head.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A long room with three long rows of desks, and six of forms, and bristling all round with pegs for hats and slates.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He was of a sickly colour, and his thin, sandy hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They bristle up together like a clump of lances.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

All round me were little ripples, combing over with a sharp, bristling sound and slightly phosphorescent.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Device consisting of hairs or bristles set into a handle or holder, especially one that conducts current between the rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor.

(Brush Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Every line bristled with many-syllabled words he did not understand.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)