FUR (furred, furring)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: furred    , furring   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fur mean? 

• FUR (noun)
  The noun FUR has 3 senses:

1. the dressed hairy coat of a mammal

2. dense coat of fine silky hairs on mammals (e.g., cat or seal or weasel)

3. a garment made of animal pelts or synthetic fur

  Familiarity information: FUR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FUR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The dressed hairy coat of a mammal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

fur; pelt

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

animal skin (the outer covering of an animal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fur"):

lapin; rabbit (the fur of a rabbit)

squirrel (the fur of a squirrel)

seal; sealskin (the pelt or fur (especially the underfur) of a seal)

sable (the expensive dark brown fur of the marten)

raccoon (the fur of the North American racoon)

otter (the fur of an otter)

muskrat; muskrat fur (the brown fur of a muskrat)

mink (the expensive fur of a mink)

leopard (the pelt of a leopard)

lambskin (the skin of a lamb with the wool still on)

fox (the grey or reddish-brown fur of a fox)

ermine (the expensive white fur of the ermine)

chinchilla (the expensive silvery grey fur of the chinchilla)

beaver; beaver fur (the soft brown fur of the beaver)

bearskin (the pelt of a bear (sometimes used as a rug))

astrakhan (the fur of young lambs)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dense coat of fine silky hairs on mammals (e.g., cat or seal or weasel)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

coat; pelage (growth of hair or wool or fur covering the body of an animal)

Meronyms (parts of "fur"):

guard hair (coarse hairs that form the outer fur and protect the underfur of certain mammals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fur"):

undercoat; underfur (thick soft fur lying beneath the longer and coarser guard hair)

Derivation:

furry (covered with a dense coat of fine silky hairs)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A garment made of animal pelts or synthetic fur

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

garment (an article of clothing)

 Context examples 

I'm a-going to seek her, fur and wide.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

In some places, across the chest and shoulders and down the outside of the arms and thighs, it was matted into almost a thick fur.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The morning is bitterly cold; the furnace heat is grateful, though we have heavy fur coats.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A description of the quantity or quality of the hair or fur covering a biological entity.

(Hair or Fur Cover, NCI Thesaurus)

A description of the quantity or quality of the hair or fur covering a mass.

(Mass Hair Cover, NCI Thesaurus)

“He of the fur mantle has a wise and reverent face.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The hue of a subject's hair or fur.

(Hair Coat Color, NCI Thesaurus)

A medium-sized macaque that tends to be an opportunistic omnivore, the Macaca fascicularis has grey-brown or reddish-brown fur that lightens ventrally, and cheek whiskers.

(Cynomolgus Maritius Monkey, NCI Thesaurus)

It was furred outside by a thick layer of dust, and damp and worms had eaten through the wood, so that a crop of livid fungi was growing on the inside of it.

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

My tale is done, there runs a mouse; whosoever catches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)