Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Birch.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Northern English and Scotch form of
birch . - To give a tart answer; converse in a sharp and cutting way.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Prov. Eng. A birch tree.
- noun (Zoöl.) A small European minnow (
Leuciscus phoxinus ).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A birch tree.
- noun zoology A small European
minnow (Leuciscus phoxinus ). - noun UK, slang Alternative spelling of
berk .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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I've often wondered why it is pronounced "birk" when it derives from berkeley hoon.
Guy Fawkes' blog guidoadmin 2009
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I was at the birk store with a friend who was trying them on.
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I spent ten years at the part-time working, child-caring, birk-wearing partner type.
She who wants it all, risks it all Ms Robinson 2008
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I won't even make you get rid of the birk but only one?
Fashion Victim 2007
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I was at the birk store with a friend who was trying them on.
Fashion Victim 2007
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Sons o birk an pine an rowan, Jocks an Ivans by the score
Gillie Mor 1997
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In Scotland the channering worm doth chide even the souls that come from where, "beside the gate of Paradise, the birk grows fair enough."
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" Various
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'Twas when the wan leaf frae the birk-tree was fa'in ', vol. ii.,
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume VI The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century Various
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Oh, hast thou forgotten the birk-tree's shade, vol. iv.,
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume VI The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century Various
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The angelica is like the green birk of that superb fragment, the ballad of the Wife of Usher's Well -- a little more frankly heathen, of course --
The Danish History, Books I-IX Grammaticus Saxo
hernesheir commented on the word birk
A lovely Scottish strathspey called "The Birks of Invermay" was published in William Thomson's Orpheus Caledonius in 1733. The charming melody honors Invermay House and Estate on the northern edge of the Ochil Hills of central Perth and Kinross.
The tune will always be associated with the
May 24, 2010