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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

burr Burr

Famous for his encyclopedic knowledge of the benchmark stock index and his fast-paced Brooklyn burr, he has been a markets data maven for everyone from Wall Street analysts to financial journalists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

The following year, his balloon burst a mile above the ground in Virginia, and his re-attempt at the flight saw him wrecked among burr chestnut trees and almost killed.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2024

A longtime champion of the oppressed, and a burr to the powerful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2024

“Should you have a smile on your face coming to the rink? Absolutely. Should you have a little burr in your saddle every night as the puck drops? Yeah, for sure.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

“Well, Idella,” she said, “what have you got a burr under your tail about now?”

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

There have been other serious actors as host, for example, Raymond Burr in 1959, Tom Selleck in 1984 and Angela Lansbury in 1993.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

“The holdup quite frankly is Marty Makary,” said Richard Burr, the former North Carolina senator who now leads a pro-vaping group, the Coalition for Smarter Regulation of Nicotine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

“Companies are clearly prioritizing focus, scale and simplicity as they respond to shifting consumption patterns, trade pressures and slower demand,” said Ed Brown, chair of Burr and Forman’s Food and Beverage practice.

From Barron's ● Mar. 31, 2026

After the Burr Oak Cemetery investigation, von Konrat was asked to assist with several other cases involving moss.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026

Two years earlier, in fact, Burr had claimed to have confronted Hamilton with a personal complaint about incessant vilifications of his character, and Hamilton had acknowledged his indiscretion.

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

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