bur
/bɜː//bɝ/
bur noun: a rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants. Also the alternative form of burr.
Noun
bur (plural burs)
- A rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants.
- Any of several plants having such husks.
- A rotary cutting implement having a selection of variously shaped heads.
Proper noun capitalized: Bur
Bur (plural Burs)
- A surname.
Also used as
bur is also the alternative form of burr.
Forms of bur
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | burs |
| alternative form | burr |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Burs |
Origin of bur
From Middle English burre, of unknown origin but probably from North Germanic (Scandinavian) source or from Old English byrst (“bristle”). See also burr. Compare English bristle, Danish burre (“bur, burdock”), Norwegian borre, Swedish borre, and Old Norse burst (“bristle”).
Three possible origins: * Borrowed from French Bur, probably a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name. * Borrowed from Alemannic German Bur (“peasant, farmer”) and Low German Bur (“peasant, farmer”). * Borrowed from Slovak Búr, a surname of unexplained origin.
Words formed from bur
Phrases with bur
Words that rhyme with bur
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- per
- purr
- birr
- cellular
- concur
- defer
- entrepreneur
- incur
- infer
- occur
- prefer
- were
- whirr
- aver
- brr
- cur
- deter
- diaperfur
- err
- fir
- myrrh
- aberr
- astir
- bestir
- chauffeur
- chur
- churr
- curmur
- deburr
- farceur
- flurr
- force majeure
- froideur
- grr
- her
- hurr
- inter
- knur
- masseur
- profer
- shirr
- voyeur
- xir
- agripreneur
- artpreneur
- auteur
- Big Sur
- bras d'honneur
Questions about bur
- What does bur mean?
- Bur means a rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants.
- What part of speech is bur?
- Bur can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce bur?
- Bur is pronounced /bɝ/ (US).
- What is the plural of bur?
- The plural of bur is burs.
Words near bur in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bur (page history and authors); Bur (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-bur.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bur.wav.
Cite this entry: “bur.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bur. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.