brier
brier Lexical Profile
brier Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Any of various prickly, thorny woody shrubs or scrambling vines, especially wild roses of the genus Rosa, blackberries of the genus Rubus, or greenbriers of the genus Smilax, commonly forming dense thickets in temperate regions.
"The hikers had to carefully untangle their jackets from the dense briers lining the narrow forest trail."
A tall, evergreen shrub of the heather family (Erica arborea), native to the Mediterranean basin and prized for its hard, heat-resistant rootwood.
"Artisans harvest the dense underground burl of the Mediterranean brier to craft durable wooden goods."
A tobacco pipe carved from the hard, heat-resistant root burl of the white heath shrub (Erica arborea).
"My grandfather kept a polished brier on the mantelpiece in his study."
Word Nuance & Usage
Also commonly spelled "briar", particularly when referring to the white heath shrub or the tobacco pipes carved from its root.
• Rhymes for brier
Word Origin & Etymology
In the sense of a prickly bush, from Old English brēr, of uncertain origin; in the sense of the heath shrub and tobacco pipe, borrowed from French bruyère (heath), ultimately of Celtic origin.