Birr

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /bɜː/
• US IPA: /bɝ/

From Middle English bir ("favorable or strong wind; assault, blow strike, violence, fury; strength"), from Old English byre ("strong wind, storm"); cognate with Icelandic byrr ("sailing winds"), Albanian borë ("snow") and Latin borea ("North wind").

Full definition of birr

Noun

1. force, vigor, energy
2. a strong wind.
3. the force of the wind; rush, impetus, momentum, driving force
4. a thrust or push
5. a whirring noise
• 1916 , Colonel J.A. Currie , The Red Watch, With the First Canadian Division in Flanders Chapter XVII The Battle of Neuve Chapelle , When the British Tommies heard the "birr" of the five-inch Canadian shells they all asked whose they were.
6. a strong trilling pronunciation
• 2011-04-24 , Kevin McKenna , Labour needs to challenge Alex Salmond – and quickly , Gray possesses an unfortunate East of Scotland birr that suggests a 21-year-old student interviewing for his first job.

Verb

1. To make a whirring noise; make a noise like that of revolving wheels, or of millstones at work.

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /bɪə/
• US IPA: /bɪɹ/

From Amharic ብር (bir, "silver")

Noun

1. The currency of Ethiopia, divided into 100 santims

Synonyms

• ETB