Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A whirring sound.
- n. Strong forward momentum; driving force.
- v. To make a whirring sound.
- n. See Table at currency.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A strong wind.
- n. The force of the wind; impetus; momentum.
- n. A thrust or push.
- n. Force; vigor; energy.
- To make a whirring noise; make a noise like that of revolving wheels, or of millstones at work.
- n. A whirring noise.
- n. Strong trilling pronunciation. See bur.
Wiktionary
- n. force, vigor, energy
- n. a strong wind.
- n. the force of the wind; rush, impetus, momentum, driving force
- n. a thrust or push
- n. a whirring noise
- n. a strong trilling pronunciation
- v. To make a whirring noise; make a noise like that of revolving wheels, or of millstones at work.
- n. The currency of Ethiopia, divided into 100 santims
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make, or move with, a whirring noise, as of wheels in motion.
- n. A whirring sound, as of a spinning wheel.
- n. A rush or impetus; force.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make a soft swishing sound
- n. sound of something in rapid motion
- n. the basic unit of money in Ethiopia; equal to 100 cents
Etymologies
- From Middle English bir ("favorable or strong wind; assault, blow strike, violence, fury; strength"), from Old English byre ("strong wind, storm"); cognate with Icelandic byrr ("sailing winds"), Albanian borë ("snow") and Latin borea ("North wind"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bir, favorable wind, from Old Norse byrr; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.Amharic bərr, from brr, to be white. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“When the British Tommies heard the "birr" of the five-inch”
"The Red Watch" With the First Canadian Division in Flanders
“A tattered white sheet drops from the ceiling to serve as background for the requisite digital photo, which she takes of each entrant as part of the 10 birr she charges per submission.”
The Wall Street Journal: Playing the U.S. Visa Lottery in Ethiopia
“The post office can also create an email address, which the State Department requires, for an additional two birr.”
The Wall Street Journal: Playing the U.S. Visa Lottery in Ethiopia
“Tsehay Wondim, who owns an Internet kiosk with five computer terminals, normally charges one birr for every five minutes of Web surfing.”
The Wall Street Journal: Playing the U.S. Visa Lottery in Ethiopia
“The post office charges 10 birr for the primary applicant and five birr per dependent listed on the same form.”
The Wall Street Journal: Playing the U.S. Visa Lottery in Ethiopia
“Internet cafes have profited, and so has the Ethiopian Postal Service, which collects a service fee starting at 10 Ethiopian birr, or 57 cents, for each online entry it processes.”
The Wall Street Journal: Playing the U.S. Visa Lottery in Ethiopia
“One shopper, who gave his name as Geremew, simply held up the thick wad of birr, the Ethiopian currency, that he was holding as he waited to pay for a small basket of food.”
“The price of a liter of gasoline stood at 21 birr this week, a massive increase despite government promises to keep inflation in single-digit territory.”
“The government devalued the local currency, the birr, by 17 percent against the dollar in September, significantly raising the price of imported goods.”
Voice of America: Ethiopia’s Inflation Rate Hits Nearly 15 Percent in December
“Quite simply, it was unimaginable; Gray possesses an unfortunate East of Scotland birr that suggests a 21-year-old student interviewing for his first job.”
The Guardian: Labour needs to challenge Alex Salmond – and quickly | Kevin McKenna
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘birr’.
-
currency
$$$
lek, shilling, farthing, penny, dollar, cent, pound, peso, euro, won, yen, yuan and 106 more...
-
A Sequel to 250 Spelling Words
Words to quiz the intermediate and advanced speller alike
amatorio, esemplastic, etesian, cholecystitis, chantepleure, paternoster, mondegreen, aporia, kairos, idioglossia, klepht, phansigar and 238 more...
-
Spinning
This list is basically an excuse for me to list the word wool four times in a row.
wool, spin, spinning, cotton, scribble, scribbler, scribbling, spindle whorl, spindlewhorl, card, card-clothing, carding-machine and 68 more...
-
inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, B
bloviate, bejesus, brouhaha, behoove, bodacious, bamboozle, banshee, bub, bolus, blob, bubbly, bleb and 414 more...
-
flannagan's Words
netop, kenspeckle, loden, framboise, providence, milquetoast, schism, cadence, thrush, asphodel, clandestine, aesthete and 196 more...
-
Filthy Stinking Rich
Monetary units and other words that mean money. Other financial words are allowed too, as long as they're principally about money. Get it, principally? I kill me.
money, cash, dough, loot, wad, stack, booty, capital, nest egg, treasure, banknote, net and 168 more...
-
Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate sounds.
bam, bamf, bang, boom, snikt, ping, plink, plonk, boing, whoosh, kaboom, crash and 68 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for birr.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.