The Collaborative International Dictionary
To bristle up
Bristle \Bris"tle\, v. i.
-
To rise or stand erect, like bristles.
His hair did bristle upon his head.
--Sir W. Scott. -
To appear as if covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles.
The hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with ten thousand bayonets.
--Thackeray.Ports bristling with thousands of masts.
--Macaulay. -
To show defiance or indignation.
To bristle up, to show anger or defiance.
Usage examples of "to bristle up".
He was of a sickly colour, and his thin, sandy hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion.
Rokeby was smoking, alone, in the dining-room early in the evening, when the dog began to bristle up his hair, and bark.