bristle
noun
one of the short, stiff, coarse hairs of certain animals, especially hogs, used extensively in making brushes.
were bristling
-
past progressiveof bristle.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
A few blocks away, members of another branch of the House of Rothschild were bristling over the reputational knock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union were bristling with tens of thousands of nuclear weapons when he became secretary of state.
From New York Times ● Feb. 7, 2021
"We were bristling with confidence. We weren't afraid to step out and take chances. And we had a very, very prolific couple of guitar players," he said.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2016
Before long, the great American novelists themselves were bristling at that requirement of essential Americanness.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2012
After they left, the rest of us were bristling with anxiety, but of course we couldn’t talk and so we continued to shuffle along, eyes on the ground and half afraid to look up.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
