Bristler
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Someone or something that bristles.
"but study this useful little insect, and we find that by care and attention we may not only manage to approach the little bristler, without fear of its weapon, but extract so many sweets, that when we know its service, we wonder how any one on earth can be so silly as to quarrel with it!"
- 2 A bristled pig. informal
"'Twas he who rear'd the roe-deer's brood, And the young bristler of the wood ;"
- 3 A conman. obsolete
"A friend of mine having occasion to show this section to a party of 4 bristlers, states that they withdrew a pace and seemed to be computing among themselves."
- 4 A person of low social class. derogatory, obsolete
"But I own I like a quiet unobtrusive bristler — the sort of man who doesn't want to take you beyond ten times ten in the multiplication table."
- 5 A soldier who is part of a company that carries pikes. obsolete, slang
"Amont the thirty thousand men led to war by Charles VIII., six thousand Swiss soldiers were especially remarked, formed in large square battalions, of one thousand men each, which were called "bristlers," in allusion to the pikes which they presented on all sides."
Example
More examples"but study this useful little insect, and we find that by care and attention we may not only manage to approach the little bristler, without fear of its weapon, but extract so many sweets, that when we know its service, we wonder how any one on earth can be so silly as to quarrel with it!"
Etymology
From bristle + -er.
More for "bristler"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.