[f. BURR sb.6]
1. intr. To pronounce a strong uvular r (instead of a trilled r), as is done in Northumberland. Also, loosely, to speak with a rough articulation; to speak inarticulately or indistinctly, to utter the syllable burr or something like it.
1798. Wordsw., Idiot Boy, xxii. Burr, burr—now Johnny’s lips they burr, As loud as any mill, or near it.
1816. Monthly Mag., XLI. 527. There let them burr and oy.
1866. Carlyle, Remin. (1881), II. 126. He … burred with his r.
2. trans. To pronounce (r) with a ‘burr’ (or, loosely, with a trill).
1868. H. Kingsley, Mathilde, II. 268. There were plenty of r’s in it, and he burred them.
Mod. You cannot speak French like a Parisian, until you have learnt to burr your r’s.
3. intr. To make a whirring noise.
See BURRING ppl. a.
