Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Covered with or having burrs, prickles, or small, rough, clinging points: Describes a surface that is rough with small, often hooked, projections.
   • Having a rough, prickly, or spiny texture: Used to characterize plants, fruits, or materials that are abrasive to the touch due to small, stiff points.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The burred seed pods clung stubbornly to my socks.
  • We carefully avoided the burred branches of the thicket.
  • The fabric had a burred texture after being caught on the wire fence.

Advanced Usage

• Technical/Botanical Use: In botany, "burred" precisely describes fruits or seed cases (like those of burdock or cocklebur) that are covered in hooks or spines, an adaptation for dispersal by attaching to animal fur.
  • The plant's burred achenes are highly effective for zoochory.
• Descriptive/Figurative Use: Can be used metaphorically to describe a rough, grating, or irritating quality in non-physical contexts, such as a sound or a personality.
  • His voice was low and burred with fatigue. (Implies a rough, hoarse quality.)
  • She had a burred wit that could be unexpectedly sharp. (Implies a prickly, abrasive quality.)

Variants and Related Words

• Burr (noun): 1. A rough edge or ridge left on metal or other material after cutting or drilling. 2. A prickly seed case or flower head that clings to animals and clothing. 3. A rough sounding of the letter "r", especially a Scottish trill.
• Burr (verb): 1. To form a rough edge or point. 2. To speak with a burr (the rough 'r' sound).
• Burry (adjective): An alternative form meaning full of or resembling burrs; prickly.

Synonyms

• Prickly: Having many sharp points.
• Bristly: Having short, stiff hairs.
• Spiny: Covered with or having spines.
• Barbed: Having sharp points that are curved or angled backwards.
• Setaceous (technical): Bristle-like; having or consisting of bristles.

Related Phrases

• To have a burr under one's saddle: An idiom meaning to be persistently annoyed or irritated by something.
  • He's been in a bad mood all day; he must have a burr under his saddle about something.

Adjective

1. having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.
   • a horse with a short bristly mane
   • bristly shrubs
   • burred fruits
   • setaceous whiskers