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• burr
  burr

  noun

  Also a protruding, ragged edge raised on the surface of metal during drilling, shearing, punching, or engraving.
• Burr
  Burr

  noun

  Aaron, 1756–1836, vice president of the U.S. 1801–05.

burr

¹ American  

[bur] / bɜr /

Also bur

noun

1. Also a protruding, ragged edge raised on the surface of metal during drilling, shearing, punching, or engraving.

2. a rough or irregular protuberance on any object, as on a tree.

3. a small, handheld, power-driven milling cutter, used by machinists and die makers for deepening, widening, or undercutting small recesses.

4. a lump of brick fused or warped in firing.

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verb (used with object)

1. to form a rough point or edge on.

2. deburr.

burr ² American  

[bur] / bɜr /

Or bur

noun

1. a washer placed at the head of a rivet.

2. a blank punched out of a piece of sheet metal.

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burr ³ American  

[bur] / bɜr /

noun

1. a pronunciation of the r- sound as a uvular trill, as in certain Northern English dialects.

2. a pronunciation of the r- sound as an alveolar flap or trill, as in Scottish English.

3. any pronunciation popularly considered rough or nonurban.

4. a whirring noise.

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verb (used without object)

1. to speak with a burr.

2. to speak roughly, indistinctly, or inarticulately.

3. to make a whirring sound.

verb (used with object)

1. to pronounce (words, sounds, etc.) with a burr.

burr ⁴ American  

[bur] / bɜr /

Or buhr

noun

1. burstone.

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Burr ⁵ American  

[bur] / bɜr /

noun

1. Aaron, 1756–1836, vice president of the U.S. 1801–05.

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burr ¹ British  

/ bɜː /

noun

1. a small power-driven hand-operated rotary file, esp for removing burrs or for machining recesses

2. a rough edge left on a workpiece after cutting, drilling, etc

3. a rough or irregular protuberance, such as a burl on a tree

4. a burl on the trunk or root of a tree, sliced across for use as decorative veneer

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noun

1. a variant spelling of bur

verb

1. to form a rough edge on (a workpiece)

2. to remove burrs from (a workpiece) by grinding, filing, etc; deburr

burr ² British  

/ bɜː /

noun

1. phonetics an articulation of (r) characteristic of certain English dialects, esp the uvular fricative trill of Northumberland or the retroflex r of the West of England

2. a whirring sound

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verb

1. to pronounce (words) with a burr

2. to make a whirring sound

burr ³ British  

/ bɜː /

noun

1. a washer fitting around the end of a rivet

2. a blank punched out of sheet metal

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burr ⁴ British  

/ bɜː /

noun

1. short for buhrstone

2. a mass of hard siliceous rock surrounded by softer rock

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Burr ⁵ British  

/ bɜː /

noun

1. Aaron . 1756–1836, US vice-president (1800–04), who fled after killing a political rival in a duel and plotted to create an independent empire in the western US; acquitted (1807) of treason

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Etymology

Origin of burr¹

First recorded in 1605–15; spelling variant of bur ¹

Origin of burr²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English burrewez (plural), buruhe “circle,” variant of brough “round tower”; see broch

Origin of burr³

First recorded in 1750–60; apparently both imitative and associative, the sound being thought of as rough like a bur

Origin of burr⁴

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English burre, probably so called from its roughness

Example Sentences

Koy and Iglesias are now part of a small fraternity of comics, including Kevin Hart, Dane Cook, Bill Burr and Larry the Cable Guy, who’ve sold out stadiums across the country.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

Burr channeled Caleb’s belief in “the sovereignty of truth” even before he faced a trial for treason orchestrated by Jefferson in 1807.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

Nine years later this new story promises to expand on Le Carré's source material, and alongside Tom Hiddleston's British intelligence operative Jonathan Pine, it sees the return of his fellow spy Olivia Colman's Angela Burr.

From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025

Americans have been worrying about the risks of mixing banking and commerce since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton.

From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025

Though he had not sought out the impending duel with Burr, there was nothing in Hamilton’s lifelong pattern that would permit a self-consciously bland and supremely triumphant refusal of the challenge.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis