brier

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: bri=er

CIDE DICTIONARY

brier, n. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brēr, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.].

•  A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax.  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.  [1913 Webster]

  "The thorns and briers of reproof."  [1913 Webster]

Brier root, the root of the southern Smilax laurifolia and Smilax Walteri; -- used for tobacco pipes. See also 2nd brier. -- Cat brier, Green brier, several species of Smilax (Smilax rotundifolia, etc.) -- Sweet brier (Rosa rubiginosa). See Sweetbrier. -- Yellow brier, the Rosa Eglantina.

brier, n. 

•  the white heath Erica arborea.  RHUD.  [PJC]
•  a smoking pipe made of the root of the brier{1}.

  "Brierroot seems to have been used formerly as a term meaning root of the Smilax laurifolia and is now defined as root of the Erica arborea. Not clear when this changed. -- PJC."  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

brier, n. (also briar) any prickly bush esp. of a wild rose.

Idiom

brier-rose dog-rose. sweet-brier a wild rose, Rosa eglanteria, with small fragrant leaves and flowers.

Derivative

briery adj.

brier, n. (also briar)
1 a white heath, Erica arborea, native to S. Europe.
2 a tobacco pipe made from its root.

Etymology

19th-c. bruyer f. F bruy{egrave}re heath

THESAURUS

brier

adherent, adhesive, barnacle, bramble, brier bush, bristle, bulldog, burr, bush, cactus, catchweed, cement, cleavers, decal, decalcomania, glue, goose grass, gunk, leech, limpet, molasses, mucilage, needle, nettle, paste, pine needle, plaster, prickle, quill, remora, scrub, shrub, shrubbery, spicule, spiculum, spike, spikelet, spine, sticker, syrup, thistle, thorn, yucca

ROGET THESAURUS

brier

Bane

N bane, curse, evil, hurtfulness, painfulness, scourge, damnosa hereditas, white elephant, sting, fang, thorn, tang, bramble, brier, nettle, poison, toxin, teratogen, leaven, virus venom, arsenic, antimony, tartar emetic, strychnine, nicotine, miasma, miasm, mephitis, malaria, azote, sewer gas, pest, Albany hemp, arsenious oxide, arsenious acid, bichloride of mercury, carbonic acid, carbonic gas, choke damp, corrosive sublimate, fire damp, hydrocyanic acid, cyanide, Prussic acid, hydrogen cyanide, marsh gas, nux vomica, ratsbane, hemlock, hellebore, nightshade, belladonna, henbane, aconite, banewort, bhang, ganja, hashish, Upas tree, Toxline (online), rust, worm, helminth, moth, moth and rust, fungus, mildew, dry rot, canker, cankerworm, cancer, torpedo, viper, demon, toxicology, baneful, poisonous, phr, bibere venenum in auro, Contingent Subservience.

Sharpness

N sharpness, acuity, acumination, spinosity, point, spike, spine, spicule, spiculum, needle, hypodermic needle, tack, nail, pin, prick, prickle, spur, rowel, barb, spit, cusp, horn, antler, snag, tag thorn, bristle, Adam's needle, bear grass, tine, yucca, nib, tooth, tusk, spoke, cog, ratchet, crag, crest, arete, cone peak, sugar loaf, pike, aiguille, spire, pyramid, steeple, beard, chevaux de frise, porcupine, hedgehog, brier, bramble, thistle, comb, awn, beggar's lice, bur, burr, catchweed, cleavers, clivers, goose, grass, hairif, hariff, flax comb, hackle, hatchel, heckle, wedge, knife edge, cutting edge, blade, edge tool, cutlery, knife, penknife, whittle, razor, razor blade, safety razor, straight razor, electric razor, scalpel, bistoury, lancet, plowshare, coulter, colter, hatchet, ax, pickax, mattock, pick, adze, gill, billhook, cleaver, cutter, scythe, sickle, scissors, shears, pruning shears, cutters, wire cutters, nail clipper, paper cutter, sword, bodkin, belduque, bowie knife, paring knife, bushwhacker, drawing knife, drawing shave, microtome, chisel, screwdriver blade, flint blade, guillotine, sharpener, hone, strop, grindstone, whetstone, novaculite, steel, emery, sharp, keen, acute, acicular, aciform, aculeated, acuminated, pointed, tapering, conical, pyramidal, mucronate, mucronated, spindle shaped, needle shaped, spiked, spiky, ensiform, peaked, salient, cusped, cuspidate, cuspidated, cornute, cornuted, cornicultate, prickly, spiny, spinous, spicular, thorny, bristling, muricated, pectinated, studded, thistly, briary, craggy, snaggy, digitated, two-edged, fusiform, dentiform, denticulated, toothed, odontoid, starlike, stellated, stelliform, sagittate, sagittiform, arrowheaded, arrowy, barbed, spurred, acinaciform, apiculate, apiculated, aristate, awned, awny, bearded, calamiform, cone-shaped, coniform, crestate, echinate, gladiate, lanceolate, lanciform, awl, awl-shaped, lance-shaped, awl- shaped, scimitar-shaped, sword-shaped, setarious, spinuliferous, subulate, tetrahedral, xiphoid, cutting, sharp edged, knife edged, sharp as a razor, keen as a razor, sharp as a needle, sharp as a tack, sharpened, set.