different between thistle vs bristle

English

Etymology

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þ?h- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel and Icelandic þistill.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??sl?/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Noun

thistle (plural thistles)

1. Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
   • , Genesis 3:18:

     Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].

2. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
3. (heraldry) This plant used as a charge.
4. The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 324:

     Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’

Derived terms

Translations

References

• thistle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• thistle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Hittles, Lettish, listeth, lithest, shittle

English

Etymology

From Middle English bristil, bristel, brustel, diminutive of brust, from Old English byrst, from Proto-Germanic *burstiz (compare Dutch borstel, German Borste (“boar's bristle”), Icelandic burst), from Proto-Indo-European *b?r?stís (compare Middle Irish brostaid (“to goad, spur”), Latin fast?gium (“top”), Polish barszcz (“hogweed”)), equivalent to brust +? -le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b??s.l?/
• (dated, rural folk speech of New England and Upstate New York) IPA^(key): /?b??s.l?/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Noun

bristle (plural bristles)

1. A stiff or coarse hair.

   the bristles of a pig

2. The hairs or other filaments that make up a brush, broom, or similar item.

Derived terms

• bristlet

Translations

Verb

bristle (third-person singular simple present bristles, present participle bristling, simple past and past participle bristled)

1. To rise or stand erect, like bristles.
2. abound, to have an abundance of something
3. (with at) To be on one's guard or raise one's defenses; to react with fear, suspicion, or distance.
4. To fix a bristle to.

   to bristle a thread

Derived terms

• bristling

Translations

References

• bristle at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Bitlers, Liberts, blister, reblits, riblets