Dictionary

furze en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /fɜː(ɹ)z/

Etymology

From Middle English firse, furs, from Old English fyrs (“furze, gorse, bramble”), from Old English fyres (“furze”), related to Old English fȳr (“fire”); otherwise of unknown origin.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A thorny evergreen shrub, with yellow flowers, Ulex gen. et spp., of which Ulex europaeus is particularly common upon the plains and hills of Great Britain and Ireland.
   • At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas, instead of discharging his debts he walk'd out of town, hid his gown in a furze bush, and footed it to London, […] 1771–1790, Benjamin Franklin, “The Autobiography [Part 1]”, in John Bigelow, editor, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co., published 1868, →OCLC, page 158:
   • Gonz. Now would I giue a thouſand furlongs of Sea, for an Acre of barren ground : Long heath, Browne firrs, any thing;[…] 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 1:
   • Clumps of withered grass stood out on the hill-top; the furze bushes were black, and now and then a black shiver crossed the snow as the wind drove flurries of frozen particles before it. 1922 October 26, Virginia Woolf, chapter VIII, in Jacob’s Room, Richmond, London: […] Leonard & Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished London: The Hogarth Press, 1960, →OCLC, page 97:
   • “My Continental prominence is improving,” I commented dryly. ¶ Von Lindowe cut at a furze bush 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.” 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 41:

Forms

Deriveds

furzeling · common furze · furzechat · furzed · furze-pig · furzy · dwarf furze · needle furze

Synonyms

gorse · whin