burrow

See also: Burrow

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɹəʊ/
• (US, without the hurry–furry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɹoʊ/

  • Audio (US, without the hurry–furry merger):

    (file)

• (US, hurry–furry merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɜɹoʊ/

  • Audio (US, hurry–furry merger):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊɹəʊ/, /-ɹoʊ/, /-ɹoː/, /-ɹə/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɾo/
• (Wales, without the toe–tow merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌɾou/
• Rhymes: -ʌɹəʊ
• Homophone: borough (one pronunciation)

Noun

burrow (plural burrows)

1. A tunnel or hole, or a system of tunnels, often as dug by a small creature for use as a home.

   Synonyms: earth, warren

   Hypernym: haunt

   Hyponyms: cete, rabbit warren, sett, town

   • 1921 June, Margery Williams, “The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real”, in Harper’s Bazar, volume LVI, number 6 (2504 overall), New York, N.Y.: International Magazine Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in.

2. Obsolete form of barrow (“a mound”).
   • 1868, Joseph Polsue, A Complete Parochial History of the County of Cornwall, page 286:

     Such another chapel as this, though not built upon a burrow of stones, is to be seen on Montague Hill, in Somersetshire, and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel […]

3. Obsolete form of borough (“an incorporated town”).

Derived terms

• bargander
• burrow duck
• burrowless
• burrowlike
• burrow owl
• paleoburrow

Translations

a tunnel or hole

• Arabic: جُحْر m (juḥr), سَرَب m (sarab), دَوْلَج m (dawlaj)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: нара́ f (nará)
• Bulgarian: ду́пка (bg) f (dúpka), ду́пка в земя́та f (dúpka v zemjáta) (на животно)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: cau (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地洞 (zh) (dìdòng)

• Czech: nora (cs) f

  Old Czech: jězvina f

• Danish: jordhule c
• Dutch: hol (nl), burcht (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: terkavo
• Finnish: kolo (fi)
• French: terrier (fr) m, clapier (fr) m (rabbit burrow)
• Galician: tobo (gl) m, toco (gl) m, muraqueira f, caustra f, paleira (gl) f, manida f, latebra f
• Georgian: სორო (soro)
• German: Bau (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: φωλεός m (phōleós)

• Hebrew: חור (he) m (khor), מחילה (he) f (mekhilá), מאורה f (meurá)
• Hindi: बिल (hi) (bil)
• Hungarian: lyuk (hu), járat (hu), üreg (hu)
• Irish: uachais f, poll m
• Italian: tana (it) f, buca (it) f, covo (it) m, cunicolo (it) m
• Japanese: 穴 (ja) (あな, ana), 巣穴 (ja) (すあな, suana)
• Kazakh: ін (in)
• Khakas: ін (ìn)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 굴 (ko) (gul), 소굴 (ko) (sogul)
• Latin: hola f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: urvas m, ola (lt) f
• Macedonian: дупка (mk) f (dupka), дупка в земјата f (dupka v zemjata)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: towl m
• Māori: rua (mi), unu (mi), tūrua
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Ojibwe: waazh, waanzh
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: jama (pl) f, nora (pl) f, tunel (pl) m
• Portuguese: túnel (pt), toca (pt)
• Romanian: vizuină (ro) f
• Russian: нора́ (ru) f (norá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јазбина f

  Latin: jazbina (sh) f

• Slovak: nora f
• Slovene: jazbina f
• Spanish: madriguera (es) f, ratonera (es) f (mouse burrow)
• Swedish: gryt (sv) n, jordkula (sv) c, håla (sv) c
• Tagalog: lungga (tl)
• Tarifit: axbuš m
• Thai: รู (th) (ruu)
• Tibetan: ས་འོག་ཚ་ཁུང (sa 'og tsha khung)
• Turkish: in (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: این (in)

• Ukrainian: нора́ (uk) f (norá)
• Vietnamese: hang (vi) (𥧎)
• Welsh: twll (cy) m

Verb

burrow (third-person singular simple present burrows, present participle burrowing, simple past and past participle burrowed)

1. (intransitive) To dig a tunnel or hole.
2. (intransitive, with an adverbial of direction) To move underneath or press up against in search of safety or comfort.

   The young girl burrowed into the bed.

3. (intransitive, with into) To investigate thoroughly.

   The journalist burrowed into the origins of the mayor's corruption.

Derived terms

• burrower
• burrowing bug
• burrowing owl
• burrowing parrot
• giant burrowing cockroach
• reburrow
• unburrow

Translations

to dig a hole

• Bulgarian: ровя (bg) (rovja), изравям (bg) (izravjam)
• Dutch: graven (nl), wroeten (nl)
• Esperanto: fosi (eo)
• Estonian: tuhnima
• Finnish: kaivaa (fi)
• German: graben (de)
• Italian: scavare una tana
• Lithuanian: kasti (lt)
• Māori: apu
• Polish: kopać (pl)
• Portuguese: cavar (pt)
• Spanish: socavar (es), cavar (es)