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   Burr

   /bər/

   

   noun

   • 1. a whirring sound, such as a phone ringing tone or the sound of cogs turning.
   • ▪ a rough sounding of the sound r, especially with a uvular trill (a “French r”) as in certain Northern England accents.
   • ▪ (loosely) a regional accent: "a soft Scottish burr"
   • 2. a rough edge or ridge left on an object (especially of metal) by the action of a tool or machine.
   • 3. a small rotary cutting tool with a shaped end, used chiefly in woodworking and dentistry.
   • ▪ a small surgical drill for making holes in bone, especially in the skull.
   • 4. a type of siliceous rock used for millstones.
   • ▪ a whetstone.
   • 5. a prickly seed case or flower head that clings to clothing and animal fur.
   • ▪ a plant that produces burrs, for example bur reed.
   • 6. denoting wood containing knots or other growths which show a pattern of dense swirls in the grain when sawn, used for veneers and other decorative woodwork: "burr walnut"
   • 7. a ring of bone at the base of a deer's antler.

   verb

   • 1. make a whirring sound.
   • ▪ speak with an accent in which the sound r is trilled: "“I like to have a purrrpose,” she burrs"
   • 2. form a rough edge on (metal): "the handles were fixed by rivets burred over on the shield's front"

   Word Origin Middle English (in burr (sense 5 of the noun)): probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Danish burre ‘burr, burdock’, Swedish kard-borre ‘burdock’.

   Scrabble Points: 6

   • B

     3

   • U

     1

   • R

     1

   • R

     1

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