Library / English Dictionary

BURR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small bit used in dentistry or surgery

Synonyms:

bur; burr

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

bit (the cutting part of a drill; usually pointed and threaded and is replaceable in a brace or bitstock or drill press)

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

burr drill; dentist's drill (a high speed drill that dentists use to cut into teeth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Rough projection left on a workpiece after drilling or cutting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rotary file for smoothing rough edges left on a workpiece

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

power tool (a tool driven by a motor)

Sense 4

Meaning:

United States politician who served as vice president under Jefferson; he mortally wounded his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel and fled south (1756-1836)

Synonyms:

Aaron Burr; Burr

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

pol; political leader; politician; politico (a person active in party politics)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Seed vessel having hooks or prickles

Synonyms:

bur; burr

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

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

pericarp; seed vessel (the ripened and variously modified walls of a plant ovary)

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

beggar-ticks; Spanish needles (the seed of bur marigolds)

Derivation:

burr (remove the burrs from)

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

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove the burrs from

Synonyms:

bur; burr

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

burr (seed vessel having hooks or prickles)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It's just what you need to bring out the tender womanly half of your nature, Jo. You are like a chestnut burr, prickly outside, but silky-soft within, and a sweet kernal, if one can only get at it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A little more sunshine to ripen the nut, then, not a boy's impatient shake, but a man's hand reached up to pick it gently from the burr, and find the kernal sound and sweet.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Beth, if you don't keep these horrid cats down cellar I'll have them drowned, exclaimed Meg angrily as she tried to get rid of the kitten which had scrambled up her back and stuck like a burr just out of reach.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)