bristle
/ˈbɹɪsəl/ verb C2- To rise or stand erect, like bristles. · His hair began to bristle with anger when the subject was mentioned.· The cat’s fur bristled when the dog approached.
- To abound, to be covered with, or to have an abundance of, something, especially something jutting out.
- To be on one's guard or raise one's defenses; to react with fear, suspicion, or distance. · The employees bristled at the prospect of working through the holidays.
- To cause (someone) to be on one's guard or raise one's defenses. · Your blatant attitude always bristles me.
He/she/it bristles · Past bristled · Past participle bristled · -ing form bristling
Verb forms
- Base form
- bristle
- He/she/it
- bristles
- Past
- bristled
- Past participle
- bristled
- -ing form
- bristling
From the library
She is such a dear quiet thing,” Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about in the pool, “and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her paws and washing her face—and she is such a nice soft thing to nurse—and she’s such a capital one for catching mice—oh, I beg your pardon!” cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all over, and she felt certain it must be really offended.
“They tell me,” Shere Khan would say, “that at Council ye dare not look him between the eyes.” And the young wolves would growl and bristle.
Baloo and Bagheera stood still as stone, growling in their throats, their neck hair bristling, and Mowgli watched and wondered.
With his savage eyes and bristling moustache he was wonderfully like a tiger himself.
Other matches
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