birse

American  

[burs, birs] / bɜrs, bɪrs /

noun

Scot.

1. a short hair of the beard or body; a bristle.

2. anger; rage.

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Etymology

Origin of birse

before 900; Old English byrst; cognate with Old High German borst, burst, Old Norse burst. See bristle

Example Sentences

Meg's birse was up and no mistake, Her match she had in Jean the rake.

From A Golfing Idyll or The Skipper's Round with the Deil On the Links of St. Andrews by Flint, Violet

They knew him for an incomparable fighting leader, an engineer without rival in the camp, but there was no doubt that he needed humouring when, as he would have said himself, "his birse was up."

From A Tatter of Scarlet Adventurous Episodes of the Commune in the Midi 1871 by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

Sae gin ye get your birse set up By some dour cankert carle, Content yersel'!

From The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs in Scots by Rorie, David

The souter gae the sow a kiss; "grumph," quo' she, "it's for a birse."

From The Proverbs of Scotland by Hislop, Alexander

The carle he led sic a life, The haill thing was a scunner, Sae ae braw day his birse was up, He fairly roondit on her.

From The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs in Scots by Rorie, David