burr Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun seed vessel having hooks or prickles
    bur.
  2. noun rough projection left on a workpiece after drilling or cutting
  3. noun 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)
    Aaron Burr.
  4. noun rotary file for smoothing rough edges left on a workpiece
  5. noun small bit used in dentistry or surgery
    bur.
  6. verb remove the burrs from
    bur.

WordNet

Burr noun
Etymology
See Bur.
Definitions
(Bot.)
  1. A prickly seed vessel. See Bur, 1.
  2. The thin edge or ridge left by a tool in cutting or shaping metal, as in turning, engraving, pressing, etc.; also, the rough neck left on a bullet in casting.
    The graver, in plowing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs. Tomlinson.
  3. A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down.
  4. A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the gripe, to prevent the hand from slipping.
  5. The lobe or lap of the ear.
  6. Probably of imitative origin. A guttural pronounciation of the letter r, produced by trilling the extremity of the soft palate against the back part of the tongue; rotacism; -- often called the Newcastle, Northumberland, or Tweedside, burr.
  7. The knot at the bottom of an antler. See Bur, n., 8.
Burr intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Burred present participle & verbal noun Burring
Definitions
  1. To speak with burr; to make a hoarse or guttural murmur. Mrs. Browning.

Webster 1913