Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of burl.
  • verb Third-person singular simple present indicative form of burl.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The giant sequoias were the best; they had the thickest branches, although the wartlike bulges called burls on the coastal redwoods were good landing places, too.

    Night World No. 2 L.J. SMITH 1997

  • The better grades are also used for furniture and cabinet work, and the "burls" found on this species are highly valued for making fancy articles, gavels, etc.

    Seasoning of Wood

  • Arms and legs, thin from disuse, contrasted to the swollen burls that were his knees and elbows.

    Fire The Sky W. Michael Gear 2011

  • Arms and legs, thin from disuse, contrasted to the swollen burls that were his knees and elbows.

    Fire The Sky W. Michael Gear 2011

  • His ears poke out beneath his Welton in small gnarly lumps like walnut tree burls.

    FSC Gabriel Orgrease 2009

  • His ears poke out beneath his Welton in small gnarly lumps like walnut tree burls.

    FSC 2009

  • Every army in history has protected itself - land burls, shields, armor - are you saying that by demanding that our soldiers get state-of-the art protection we are sissies?

    Quote Of The Day 2009

  • Matty Boy: There are actually only one or two of the gnarled burls encased within each structure.

    Patrick Dougherty's Civic Center Trees 3 sfmike 2009

  • Seeking a break one morning from the otherwise companionable drizzle and wind, I sat down for an hour with Robin Birley (the son of the late archaeologist Eric and the father and father-in-law, respectively, of the archaeologists Andrew and Barbara), a large man of sixty-five with hands like oaken burls.

    Empire's End 2006

  • As a hiker, the missing leaves definitely reveal the shapes of the trees like you write here I love looking at burls , deformities, and trees growing into objects, squirrel nests like you mentioned yesterday and occasionally a new overlook suddenly appears where there is dense vegetation in the summer.

    Winter Solstice - Happy Holidays DNLee 2008

  • Mostly, he had “taken” burls, the knobbled, bark-covered bulbs that grow on trunks or near the base of trees.

    How the illegal harvesting of giant trees in California shines a light on rural poverty Lyndsie Bourgon 2023

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