burrow
nounEtymology
From Middle English borowe, borewe, borwȝ, burȝe, burh, burye (“refuge for an animal, lair, burrow”), apparently a variant of Middle English burgh (“fortified dwelling, stronghold, refuge”) (see borough) and thus from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high”), but this sense is not known in Old English burh. Compare, however, Dutch cognate burcht, which has a similar sense. It may be related to bury (“to dig”), in which case it would be derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to protect, defend, save, preserve”).
Definitions
A tunnel or hole, often as dug by a small creature.
- But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in.
Obsolete form of barrow (“a mound”).
Obsolete form of borough (“an incorporated town”).
›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer
To dig a tunnel or hole.
To move underneath or press up against in search of safety or comfort.
- The young girl burrowed into the bed.
To investigate thoroughly.
- The journalist burrowed into the origins of the mayor's corruption.
A surname.
A place in England
A place in England:
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at burrow. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at burrow. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at burrow
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA