bourtree
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of bourtree
1400–50; late Middle English burtre, equivalent to bur (of uncertain origin) + tre tree
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Scotland this tree is known as the bourtree, and hence the rhyme— "Bourtree, bourtree, crooked wrung, Never straight and never strong; Ever bush and never tree, Since our Lord was nailed to thee."
From Project Gutenberg
At the byre end the old rowan-trees were creaking and groaning to the violence of the gale, the bourtree bushes were flattened near to the ground, and everywhere was white.
From Project Gutenberg
What care I for howlet's cry, For bourtree bank, or warlock craigie?
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
