Bris"tle , v. i. 1. To
rise or stand erect, like bristles.
His hair did
bristle upon his head.
Sir W. Scott.
2. To appear as if
covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles.
The hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with
ten thousand bayonets.
Thackeray.
Ports bristling with thousands of masts.
Macaulay.
3. To show defiance or indignation.
To bristle up, to show anger or
defiance.
Bris"tle , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bristled (&?;);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bristling (&?;).]
1. To
erect the bristles of; to cause to stand up, as the bristles of an angry hog; -- sometimes with up.
Now for the bare-picked bone of majesty
Doth dogged war bristle his angry crest.
Shak.
Boy, bristle thy courage up.
Shak.
2. To fix a bristle to; as, to bristle a thread.
Bris"tle (br&ibreve;s"s'l), n. [OE. bristel, brustel, AS. bristl, byrst; akin to D.
borstel, OHG. burst, G. borste, Icel. burst, Sw. borst, and
to Skr. bh&rsdot;shti edge, point, and prob, L. fastigium extremity, Gr. 'a`flaston stern of a ship, and E. brush, burr, perh. to brad. √96.]
1. A short,
stiff, coarse hair, as on the back of swine.
2. (Bot.) A stiff, sharp, roundish hair. Gray.
Hear it pronounced