n.
Function: verb
Inflected Form: bris · tled ; bris · tling \ ' bris-li ŋ , ' bri-s ə - \
Date: 15th century
transitive verb
1 : to furnish with bristles
2 : to make bristly : RUFFLE
intransitive verb
1 a : to rise and stand stiffly erect <quills bristling > b : to raise the bristles (as in anger)
2 : to take on an aggressively defensive attitude (as in response to a slight or criticism) <he bristled at the accusations of corruption>
3 a : to be full of or covered with especially something suggestive of bristles <roofs bristled with chimneys> b : to be full of something specified <book bristle s with detail and irony ― W. J. Broad>