Definition of: bristle

(bris′əl) noun
1. A coarse, stiff hair, as of swine.
2. Bot. A slender, stiff hair; morphologically, a trichome.
—v. bris·tled, bris·tling v.i.
1. To erect the bristles, as an animal when aroused: often with up.
2. To show anger, irritation, etc., as by stiffening the body: often with up.
3. To be thickly set as with bristles: The plain bristled with bayonets.
—v.t.
4. To erect as or like bristles: often with up: A cock bristles up his crest.
5. To cover or line as with bristles.
6. To agitate; ruffle violently: The storm bristled the lake. [ME bristel, OE byrst]
—bris′tly adjective