See Also: burl(medicine)
burl(dictionary)
Ives, Burl(encyclopedia)

bier (iou) and burl (iou)


bier (iou)



bier noun.

A framework for carrying; a handbarrow; a litter. Long obsolete exc. Hist. OE.
A movable frame on which a coffin or corpse is placed before burial or cremation; a support on which a coffin or corpse is carried to the grave. OE.
transf. A tomb; a sepulchre. LME.
Comb.: bier-balk a balk in a field where there is a right of way for funerals; bier-right an ordeal in which those accused of murder were required to approach the corpse and clear themselves on oath.

burl (iou)



burl noun1 & verb. LME.
[Old French bourle tuft of wool, dim. of Old & mod. French bourre, Spanish, Portuguese borra coarse wool, from late Latin burra wool: cf. BUR noun1.]
A. noun.
A knot in wool or cloth. LME.
A pimple. E-M17.
A knot or excrescence in wood. N. Amer. L19.
b. verb trans. & intrans. Dress (cloth), esp. by removing knots or lumps. Now rare. L15.
burler noun ME.