Bristling
//ˈbɹɪs(ə)lɪŋ// adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of one who bristles.
"When dogs fight, there are usually preliminaries to the actual combat — snarlings and bristlings and stiff-legged struttings. But White Fang learned to omit these preliminaries."
- 2 Alternative form of brisling. alt-of, alternative
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of bristle form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
- 1 Having bristles.
- 2 Reacting with anger or indignation.
"Tottenham had hoped to make a statement of real intent against the title pace-setters and while manager Harry Redknapp did not secure the victory he craved, he at least saw his side match United every stride of the way in a game that fizzled out after a bristling start."
- 3 Dressed in effective defensive equipment while not seeking a fight. UK, dated
Example
More examples"This system is bristling with defects and drawbacks."
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.