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burrow

bur·row

UK/ˈbʌɹəʊ/ US/ˈbʌɹoʊ/ uncommon obsolete
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

a hole in the ground made by an animal for shelter

Synonyms

verb

1.

move through by or as by digging

  • “burrow through the forest”
Synonyms

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • burrow duck
  • burrow owl
  • burrowing bug
  • burrowing owl
  • burrowing parrot
  • giant burrowing cockroach

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.