Furze

//fɜː(ɹ)z// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A thorny evergreen shrub, with yellow flowers, Ulex gen. et spp., of which Ulex europaeus is particularly common upon the plains and hills of Great Britain and Ireland. countable, uncountable

    "Gonz. Now would I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground : Long heath, Browne firrs, any thing;[…]"

  2. 2
    very spiny and dense evergreen shrub with fragrant golden-yellow flowers; common throughout western Europe wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
gorsewhingorseirish gorseshrubulex europaeus

Example

More examples

"This spring was in a dell, and the furze, brambles, junipers and thistles around it were so thick, that a real wolf might easily have chosen the spot as a lurking place."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English firse, furs, from Old English fyrs (“furze, gorse, bramble”), from Old English fyres (“furze”), related to Old English fȳr (“fire”); otherwise of unknown origin.

Etymology 2

Variant of Furse.

Related phrases

common furzedwarf furzefurze-pigneedle furze

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.