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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

brindle en · ADJ

Pronunciation

Etymology

Back-formation from brindled, a variant of brinded (“streaked, spotted”), apparently reanalyzed as brindle + -ed. Attested from the late seventeenth century.

Meanings

  1. Having such a colouration; brindled.
    • It is brindle. Stripes of black and brown ride its ribs like a zebra’s. 2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 18:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
more brindle Degree=Cmp lexicographic
most brindle Degree=Sup lexicographic

Deriveds

shit-brindle

Synonyms

tabby

brindle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Back-formation from brindled, a variant of brinded (“streaked, spotted”), apparently reanalyzed as brindle + -ed. Attested from the late seventeenth century.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable, usually) A streaky colouration in animals.
  2. (uncountable, usually) An animal so coloured.
    • I snatch at the puppy closest to me, the brindle, which is limp in my hand, and shove it down my shirt. 2011, Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones, Bloomsbury (2017), page 235:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
brindles Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

Treeing Tennessee Brindle

brindle en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Back-formation from brindled, a variant of brinded (“streaked, spotted”), apparently reanalyzed as brindle + -ed. Attested from the late seventeenth century.

Meanings

  1. To form streaks of a different color.
    • It is the perfect opposition of dark and light that brindles the tiger with gold flame and dark flame. 1925, D.H. Lawrence, Reflections on the Death of Porcupine and Other Essays:
    • Sorely too as I laboured and toiled, the reward of toil would not come ; already my back began to curve, and my hair to brindle itself with gray, yet I saw no luck before me. 1841, The Metropolitan - Volume 30, page 226:
    • The darkest areas (the points) may brindle or become bleached by brilliant sunlight, especially in chocolate and white points. 1993, Peter Warner, Perfect Cats, page 78:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
brindles Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
brindled Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
brindled Tense=Past lexicographic
brindling Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic