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# bristle

«bristle» in Mova's school dictionary: **A short, stiff hair, like the hairs on a toothbrush, a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a bristle, bristles); verb (bristle, bristles, bristled, bristling)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A short, stiff hair, like the hairs on a toothbrush, a brush or a pig's back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#m1)

2) (verb) When an animal's hair or fur stands up stiffly because it is scared or angry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#m2)

3) (verb) To suddenly show you are annoyed or offended. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#m3)

4) «bristle with» means to be full of or covered with many things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life and hygiene it is the bristles of a toothbrush or hairbrush. With animals, a cat or dog bristles when it feels threatened — a warning sign to keep away. In stories it shows a character getting angry. Phrases: «soft bristles», «bristle at», «bristle with».

### examples

- My toothbrush has soft bristles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x1)
- Change your toothbrush when the bristles get bent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x2)
- The cat's fur bristled when the big dog came near. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x3)
- A hedgehog's back is covered in stiff spines, not soft bristles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x4)
- Paint brushes have bristles made of hair or plastic. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x5)
- Dad bristled when someone called him lazy. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x6)
- The old castle wall bristled with arrows. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x7)
- If a dog's back hair bristles, give it space. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x8)
- There sat Gray Brother, every bristle on his back lifted. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/#x9)

### note

Countable noun: one bristle, many bristles. The «t» is silent: say «BRISS-ul». A dog with bristling fur is scared or angry, not happy — do not try to pet it.

### In the corpora

- [Loose brushwork, holding the brush further from the bristles, often makes paintings look more alive.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/14-painting-paints-brushes-mess-and-mistakes/13/)
- [A toothbrush with bent, splayed bristles does not clean well and is changed about every three months.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/73-brushing-your-teeth/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bristle» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bristle/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.