Wordul · all words

noun · 2 syllables · /'braɪ.ər/

BRIAR

What does "BRIAR" mean?

A prickly, thorny shrub, especially a wild rose or bramble.

Meanings

  1. A thorny bush or tangled prickly plant such as a wild rose or bramble. His coat snagged on a briar at the edge of the field.
  2. A white-flowered heath whose woody root is used to make tobacco pipes; a pipe made from it. He packed his old briar and lit it on the porch.

Did you know?

  • The 'briar' pipe is named by a happy accident: it is carved from the root burl of a Mediterranean heath, not from a thorny briar at all - the name drifted in from French 'bruyère'.

Word origin

From Old English 'brer' or 'braer', meaning a prickly bush; the pipe sense comes via the French 'bruyère' (heath), reshaped by association with the thorny plant.

Remember it

BRIAR hides 'BRI-AR' - say it like 'pry-er,' the thorn that pries at your sleeve.

A little poem

The rose guards itself-
every petal wears below
a briar of small knives.

haiku

Wordplay

  • The smoker and the bramble both go by briar, but only one of them will let you go.

What it teaches

The same plant gives the thorn and the bloom; beauty and defense often share a root.

Quick facts

What does BRIAR mean?

A prickly, thorny shrub, especially a wild rose or bramble.

Is BRIAR a valid word?

Yes — BRIAR is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is BRIAR?

BRIAR has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does BRIAR come from?

From Old English 'brer' or 'braer', meaning a prickly bush; the pipe sense comes via the French 'bruyère' (heath), reshaped by association with the thorny plant.

What can BRIAR teach us?

The same plant gives the thorn and the bloom; beauty and defense often share a root.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

Play today's Wordul →