burl
UK /bɜːl/ · US /bɝl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms burls burling burled burr
- noun A tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner; a burr knot.
- noun Wood of a mottled veneer, usually cut from such a growth.
- noun A knot or lump in thread or cloth.
- verb To remove the knots in cloth.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English burle (“a knot or flaw in cloth”), from Old French bourle (“flocks or ends of threads which disfigure cloth”), diminutive of Old French bourre, from Medieval Latin burra (“flock of wool, coarse hair”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To dress or finish up (cloth); to pick knots, burs, loose threads, etc., from, as in finishing cloth. Burling iron, a peculiar kind of nippers or tweezers used in burling woolen cloth.
- noun A knot or lump in thread or cloth.
- noun An overgrown knot, or an excrescence, on a tree; also, veneer made from such excrescences.
Etymology [OE. burle stuffing, or a knot in cloth; cf. F. bourlet, bourrelet, OF. bourel, a wreath or a roll of cloth, linen, or leather, stuffed with flocks, etc., dim. of bourre. *92. See Bur.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “burl”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details