briar

¹ American  

[brahy-er] / ˈbraɪ ər /

noun

1. brier.

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briar ² American  

[brahy-er] / ˈbraɪ ər /

noun

1. brier.

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briar ¹ British  

/ ˈbraɪə /

noun

1. Also called: tree heath.  an ericaceous shrub, Erica arborea , of S Europe, having a hard woody root (briarroot)

2. a tobacco pipe made from the root of this plant

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briar ² British  

/ ˈbraɪə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of brier 1

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Other Word Forms

• briary adjective

Etymology

Origin of briar

C19: from French bruyère heath, from Late Latin brūcus , of Gaulish origin

Example Sentences

The glasses were sold along with a Barling briar pipe and two photographs of the comic.

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2025

Guests will have their final chance to plunge a five-story drop through a briar patch on May 30, giving Disneyland attendees one last busy Memorial Day weekend to experience the attraction in its current form.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2023

During the reprise, a complaint by Cinderella’s Prince about the “thicket of briar, 100 feet deep” protecting Sleeping Beauty leads to a tongue-twisting musical exchange:

From Washington Post • Mar. 16, 2023

And the witness box is his briar patch.

From Washington Times • Feb. 27, 2023

But the Specters had found their target, too, and they pressed in through the snagging tangle of bush and briar and root and branch, meeting no more resistance than smoke.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman