| verb | be in a state of movement or action “The room abounded with screaming children” |
| verb | rise up as in fear “The dog's fur bristled” |
| verb | have or be thickly covered with or as if with bristles “bristling leaves” |
| verb | react in an offended or angry manner “He bristled at her suggestion that he should teach her how to use the program” |
| adjective | having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc. “a horse with a short bristly mane” |
| burst | noun | a sudden flurry of activity (often for no obvious reason) |
| bristle | noun | a stiff hair |
| barbel | noun | slender tactile process on the jaws of a fish |
| briar | noun | 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 |
| bristliness | noun | the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines |
| burr | noun | seed vessel having hooks or prickles |
| prickle | noun | a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf |
| prickliness | noun | the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines |
| seta | noun | a stiff hair or bristle |
| spininess | noun | the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines |
| thorniness | noun | the quality of being covered with prickly thorns or spines |
| thorn | noun | a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf |