brier

Multiple Entries:
  brier    briar  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
brier1

▶noun variant spelling of briar1.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
brier2

▶noun variant spelling of briar2.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
briar1 (also brier)

▶noun a prickly scrambling shrub, especially a wild rose. [Rosa eglanteria (sweet briar) and other species.]

– derivatives
briary adjective.

– origin OE brǣr, brēr, of unknown origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
briar2 (also brier)

▶noun

• 1 (also briar pipe) a tobacco pipe made from woody nodules borne by the tree heath.

• 2 another term for tree heath.

– origin C19: from Fr. bruyère ‘heath, heather’.