furze

See also:Furze,andFürze

English

Alternative forms

• firrs(obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle Englishfirse,furs,fromOld Englishfyrs(“furze, gorse, bramble”),fromOld Englishfyres(“furze”),related toOld Englishfȳr(“fire”);otherwise of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/fɜː(ɹ)z/

Homophone:furs

• Rhymes:-ɜː(ɹ)z

Noun

furze(countableanduncountable,pluralfurzes)

1. A thorny evergreen shrub, with yellow flowers,Ulexgen. et spp., of whichUlex europaeusis particularly common upon the plains and hills of Great Britain and Ireland.
   • 1610–1611(date written),William Shakespeare,“The Tempest”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene i],page 1:

     Gonz.Now would I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground: Long heath, Brownefirrs,any thing;[…]

   • 1771–1790,Benjamin Franklin,“The Autobiography[Part 1]”,inJohn Bigelow,editor,Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.[…],Philadelphia, Pa.:J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co.,published1868,→OCLC,page158:

     At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas, instead of discharging his debts he walk'd out of town, hid his gown in afurzebush, and footed it to London,[…]

   • 1908,W[illiam]B[lair]M[orton]Ferguson, chapter IV, inZollenstein,New York, N.Y.:D. Appleton & Company,→OCLC,page41:

     “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at afurzebush with his silver-mounted rattan. ¶ “Quite so,” he said as dryly, his hand at his mustache. “I may say if your intentions were known your life would not be worth a curse.”

   • 1922October 26,Virginia Woolf,chapter VIII, inJacob’s Room,Richmond, London:[…]Leonard& Virginia Woolf at theHogarth Press,→OCLC;republished London: The Hogarth Press,1960,→OCLC,page97:

     Clumps of withered grass stood out on the hill-top; thefurzebushes were black, and now and then a black shiver crossed the snow as the wind drove flurries of frozen particles before it.

Synonyms

• gorse,whin

Derived terms

• common furze(Ulex europaeus)
• dwarf furze(Ulex nanus)
• furze-pig
• needle furze

Translations

Ulexgen. et spp., an evergreen shrub—seegorse

Further reading

• Ulexon Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):[fʊʁtsə],[fʊɐ̯tsə]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

furze

1. inflection offurzen:
   1. first-personsingularpresent
   2. first/third-personsingularsubjunctiveI
   3. singularimperative

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈfu.ʐɛ/
• Rhymes:-uʐɛ
• Syllabification:fu‧rze

Noun

furzef

1. dative/locativesingularoffura