abristle

[ uh-bris-uhl ]

adverb

1. in a bristling state:

   an angry dog with its hairs abristle.

Word History and Origins

Origin of abristle¹

First recorded in 1915–20; a- ¹ + bristle

Example Sentences

The Maine, a 7,000-ton armor-plated vessel, 324 feet long and abristle with cannon, was the second American battleship.

From Salon

But our world is abristle with phalluses and has been for at least half a billion years.

From Salon

Right ahead of them the sea was all abristle with what, to his quick amazed glance, looked like the bones and ribs of multitudinous ships, the ruins of a veritable Armada.

From Project Gutenberg

To Wulfrey, from water-level, the sea ahead seemed all abristle with shipping, as thick, he thought to himself, as the docks at Liverpool.

From Project Gutenberg

They curved gloriously to their fall with a glint of muddy green below and all their crests abristle with white foam-fury.

From Project Gutenberg