Bur

n. [O. Eng. borre, burre, burdock, D. burre, O. Sw. borra, burdock, thistle, Ger. burre, cud-weed, hair, feathers, straw, Fr. bourre, hair, wool, stuff; also, according to Cotgrave, “the downe, or hairie coat, wherewith divers herbes, fruits, and flowers, are covered.”]

1. Any rough or prickly envelope of the seeds of plants, whether a persistent calyx, pericarp, or proper coat, as of the chestnut and burdock.
2. The rough edge or ridge left by a tool in cutting or dressing metal, as in turning, engraving, &c.; also, the rough neck left on a bullet in casting.

The graver, in plowing furrows in the surface of the copper, raises corresponding ridges or burrs. Tomlinson.

3. A guttural pronunciation of the letter r, produced by trilling the extremity of the soft palate against the back part of the tongue; rotacism;—often called the Newcastle, Northumberland, or Tweedside burr.
4. A broad ring of iron behind the place for the hand on a spear used in tilting.
5. The lobe or lap of the ear.
6. The round knob of a horn next to a deer’s head.
7. The sweetbread.
8. A clinker; a partially vitrified brick.
9. (Mech.) (a.) A small circular saw. (b.) A triangular chisel.