birr
UK /bɜː/ · US /bɝ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms birrs birring birred
- noun (Scotland) Strength, vigor, energy.
- noun (Scotland) The force of movement; rush, impetus, momentum, driving force.
- noun (Scotland) A whirring noise.
- noun (Scotland) A strong trilling.
- verb (Scotland) To make a whirring noise; make a noise like that of revolving wheels, or of millstones at work.
- verb (Scotland) To lurch or set to spinning.
- noun The currency of Ethiopia, divided into 100 santims.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A community in Middlesex Centre municipality, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada.
- proper noun A town in County Offaly, Ireland, originally named Parsonstown (Irish grid ref N 0605).
- proper noun A municipality in Aargau canton, Switzerland.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bir (“favorable or strong wind”), from Old English byre (“strong wind, storm”); cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk bør, Icelandic byrr (“sailing winds”), Albanian borë (“snow”), and Polish burza (“storm, thunderstorm”).
Borrowed from Amharic ብር (bər, “silver”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make, or move with, a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.
- noun A whirring sound, as of a spinning wheel.
- noun A rush or impetus; force.
Etymology [Cf. OE. bur, bir, wind, storm wind, fr. Icel. byrr wind. Perh. imitative.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “birr”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details