burl

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

burl, v. t. [OE. burle stuffing, or a knot in cloth; cf. F. bourlet, bourrelet, OF. bourel, a wreath or a roll of cloth, linen, or leather, stuffed with flocks, etc., dim. of bourre. √92. See Bur.].

 To dress or finish up (cloth); to pick knots, burs, loose threads, etc., from, as in finishing cloth.  [1913 Webster]

Burling iron, a peculiar kind of nippers or tweezers used in burling woolen cloth.

burl, n. 

•  A knot or lump in thread or cloth.  [1913 Webster]
•  An overgrown knot, or an excrescence, on a tree; also, veneer made from such excrescences.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

burl, n.
1 a knot or lump in wool or cloth.
2 US a flattened knotty growth on a tree.

Etymology

ME f. OF bourle tuft of wool, dimin. of bourre coarse wool f. LL burra wool

THESAURUS

burl

bilge, blain, bleb, blister, blob, boss, bow, bubble, bulb, bulge, bulla, bump, bunch, button, cahot, chine, clump, condyle, convex, dowel, ear, flange, flap, gall, gnarl, handle, hill, hump, hunch, jog, joggle, knob, knot, knur, knurl, lip, loop, lump, mole, mountain, nevus, nub, nubbin, nubble, papilloma, peg, rib, ridge, ring, shoulder, spine, stud, style, tab, tubercle, tubercule, verruca, vesicle, wale, wart, welt