bri·ar¹

also bri·er (brī′ər)

1. A Mediterranean shrub or small tree (Erica arborea) in the heath family, whose woody roots are used to make tobacco pipes. Also called tree heath.

2. A pipe made from the root of this plant or from a similar wood.

[French bruyère, heath, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *brūcāria, from Late Latin brūcus, heather, of Celtic origin; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]

bri·ar²

(brī′ər)

Variant of brier¹.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

briar

(ˈbraɪə) or

brier

1. (Plants) Also called: tree heath an ericaceous shrub, Erica arborea, of S Europe, having a hard woody root (briarroot)

2. (Plants) a tobacco pipe made from the root of this plant

[C19: from French bruyère heath, from Late Latin brūcus, of Gaulish origin]

ˈbriary, ˈbriery adj

briar

(ˈbraɪə)

(Plants) a variant spelling of brier¹

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bri•er¹

or bri•ar

(ˈbraɪ ər)

n.

1. a prickly plant or shrub, esp. the sweetbrier or a catbrier.

2. a tangled mass of prickly plants.

3. a thorny stem or twig.

[before 1000; Middle English brer]

bri′er•y, adj.

bri•er²

or bri•ar

(ˈbraɪ ər)

n.

1. the white heath, Erica arborea, of France and Corsica, the woody root of which is used for making tobacco pipes.

2. a pipe made of brierroot.

[1865–70; earlier bruyer < French bruyère, Old French < Gallo-Latin *brūcāria, derivative of *brūc- heather]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	briar - Eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips eglantine, Rosa eglanteria, sweetbriar, sweetbrier, brier rose, rosebush - any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
	2.	briar - a very prickly woody vine of the eastern United States growing in tangled masses having tough round stems with shiny leathery leaves and small greenish flowers followed by clusters of inedible shiny black berries bullbrier, catbrier, greenbrier, horse brier, horse-brier, Smilax rotundifolia, brier genus Smilax, Smilax - sometimes placed in Smilacaceae vine - a plant with a weak stem that derives support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface
	3.	briar - evergreen treelike Mediterranean shrub having fragrant white flowers in large terminal panicles and hard woody roots used to make tobacco pipes Erica arborea, tree heath, brier erica, true heath - any plant of the genus Erica briarroot - hard woody root of the briar Erica arborea
	4.	briar - a pipe made from the root (briarroot) of the tree heath briar pipe pipe, tobacco pipe - a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco

Translations

βάτος

erica bianca

briar

[ˈbraɪəʳ] N

1. (= thorny bush) → zarza f; (= wild rose) → escaramujo m, rosa f silvestre; (= hawthorn) → espino m; (= heather) → brezo m

2. (= pipe) → pipa f de brezo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

briar

[ˈbraɪə^r] n

(= thorny bush) → ronces fpl

(= wild rose) → églantier m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

briar

(also briarwood) → Bruyère(holz) nt; (also briar pipe) → Bruyère(pfeife) f

= brier a

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

briar

[ˈbraɪəʳ] n (bramble) → rovo; (wild rose) → rosa selvatica; (pipe) → pipa in radica

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping Briar Rose (for so the king's daughter was called): so that, from time to time, several kings' sons came, and tried to break through the thicket into the palace.

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And if any man should do wrong, merely out of ill-nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn or briar, which prick and scratch, because they can do no other.

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The scene in the picture at once shifted to Australia, where, in a pleasant room in Sydney, Uncle Henry was seated in an easy chair, solemnly smoking his briar pipe.

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Among his minor peculiarities are that he is careless as to his attire, unclean in his person, exceedingly absent-minded in his habits, and addicted to smoking a short briar pipe, which is seldom out of his mouth.

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Long flourish the sandal, the cord, and the cope, The dread of the devil and trust of the Pope; For to gather life's roses, unscathed by the briar, Is granted alone to the Barefooted Friar.

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Upon the top of the wall, there were again the marks of badger; and some ravellings of a sack had caught on a briar.

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Bishop Percy, like a knight of old, laid his lance in rest and tilted against the prickly briar hedge that had grown up around the Sleeping Beauty, Romance.

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It may be a very bad attempt at a briar, but briars don't straggle into the middle of roads frequented as that one seems to be--judging by those overdone ruts." He put the etching away, showing no disposition to look further into the portfolio, and remarked, "The only art that interests me is photography."

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We had all got into a first-class smoker, and he had already lit the short and charred old briar pipe which seemed to singe the end of his long, aggressive nose.

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I passed a tall briar, shooting leafy and flowery branches across the path; I see the narrow stile with stone steps; and I see--Mr.

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The feeling with which I used to watch the tramps, as they came into the town on those wet evenings, at dusk, and limped past, with their bundles drooping over their shoulders at the ends of sticks, came freshly back to me; fraught, as then, with the smell of damp earth, and wet leaves and briar, and the sensation of the very airs that blew upon me in my own toilsome journey.

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The way through which our hunters were to pass in pursuit of their game was so beset with briars, that it greatly obstructed their walk, and caused besides such a rustling, that Jones had sufficient warning of their arrival before they could surprize him; nay, indeed, so incapable was Thwackum of concealing his indignation, and such vengeance did he mutter forth every step he took, that this alone must have abundantly satisfied Jones that he was (to use the language of sportsmen) found sitting.

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briar

bri·ar 1

bri·ar 2

briar

brier

briar

bri•er1

or bri•ar

bri•er2

or bri•ar

briar

briar

briar

briar

bri·ar¹

bri·ar²

bri•er¹

bri•er²