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BURR
BURR. An informal term for a pronunciation of r that is perceived as ‘rough’, like a burr (a flower head that sticks to one's clothes), especially the uvular trill once widespread in northeast England (the Durham/Northumbrian/Northumberland burr) and southeast Scotland (the Berwick/Berwickshire burr). This ‘Parisian’ r is prestigious in French (r grasseyé: GUTTURAL r) but often stigmatized in English, speech therapists traditionally treating it as a defect. Commentators on strong r-pronunciation do not, however, always distinguish uvular from alveolar; defining burr in the OED (1880s), James A. H. Murray noted: ‘Writers ignorant of phonology often confuse the Northumberland burr with the entirely different Scotch r, which is a lingual trill.’ The term is also used for an accent in which a burr is prominent: ‘ Miss Keith spoke with a Scotch burr’ ( Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge, 1967). See ACCENT, GEORDIE, NEW ZEALAND ENGLISH, RHOTACISM, R-SOUNDS, WEST COUNTRY.
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TOM McARTHUR. "BURR." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. TOM McARTHUR. "BURR." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-BURR.html TOM McARTHUR. "BURR." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-BURR.html |
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burr
burr. A term applied in printmaking to the tiny upturned edge of the incision made in the metal plate by the cutting tool (in line engraving or drypoint) and also to the overall sandpaper-like roughening of the plate created by the rocker in mezzotint. In line engraving, where maximum sharpness is required, the burr is removed, but in drypoint it is allowed to remain because the soft, velvety quality it gives to the printed line is considered one of the attractions of the medium. In mezzotint it is the foundation of the process. With both drypoints and mezzotints, only a limited number of impressions can be taken before the burr wears down.
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IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-burr.html IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-burr.html |
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burr
burr. A term applied in printmaking to the tiny upturned edge of the incision made in the metal plate by the cutting tool (in line engraving or drypoint) and also to the overall sandpaper-like roughening of the plate created by the rocker in mezzotint. In line engraving, where maximum sharpness is required, the burr is removed, but in drypoint it is allowed to remain because the soft, velvety quality it gives to the printed line is considered one of the attractions of the medium. In mezzotint it is the foundation of the process. With both drypoints and mezzotints, only a limited number of impressions can be taken before the burr wears down.
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-burr.html IAN CHILVERS. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-burr.html |
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burr
burr / bər/ • n. 1. [in sing.] a rough sounding of the sound r, esp. with a uvular trill (a "French r") as in certain Northern England accents. ∎ (loosely) a regional accent charcterized by such a trill: a soft Scottish burr. 2. (also bur) a rough edge or ridge left on an object (esp. of metal) by the action of a tool or machine. 3. (also bur) a small rotary cutting tool with a shaped end, used chiefly in woodworking, medicine, and dentistry. 4. variant spelling of bur. |
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"burr." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "burr." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-burr005.html "burr." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-burr005.html |
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burr
burr2 uvular pronunciation of r, characteristic of Northumberland XVIII; rough whirring sound XIX. prob. imit., but perh transf. application of BUR to a ‘rough’ sound.
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T. F. HOAD. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-burr1.html T. F. HOAD. "burr." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-burr1.html |
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burr
burr (ber) n. see bur.
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"burr." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "burr." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-burr.html "burr." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-burr.html |
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burr
burr
•à deux, agent provocateur, astir, auteur, aver, bestir, blur, bon viveur, burr, Chandigarh, coiffeur, concur, confer, connoisseur, cordon-bleu, cri de cœur, cur, danseur, Darfur, defer, demur, de rigueur, deter, entrepreneur, er, err, farceur, faute de mieux, fir, flâneur, Fleur, force majeure, fur, hauteur, her, infer, inter, jongleur, Kerr, littérateur, longueur, masseur, Monseigneur, monsieur, Montesquieu, Montreux, murre, myrrh, occur, pas de deux, Pasteur, per, pisteur, poseur, pot-au-feu, prefer, prie-dieu, pudeur, purr, raconteur, rapporteur, refer, répétiteur, restaurateur, saboteur, sabreur, seigneur, Sher, shirr, sir, skirr, slur, souteneur, spur, stir, tant mieux, transfer, Ur, vieux jeu, voyageur, voyeur, were, whirr
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"burr." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "burr." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-burr.html "burr." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-burr.html |
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