breastplate vs burr

breastplate

noun
  • A piece of armor that covers the chest. 

  • A piece of horse tack designed to prevent the saddle slipping backwards. 

  • A piece of silicone in the shape of women's breasts worn by drag queens and other female impersonators to simulate a female body shape. 

  • An embroidered square of linen worn on the breast of the Jewish high priest, bearing twelve precious stones, each inscribed with the name of one of the tribes of Israel. 

burr

noun
  • A metal ring at the top of the hand-rest on a spear. 

  • A uvular "r" sound, or (by extension) an accent characterized by this sound. 

  • And when his body was against the burr of the spear, he took his sword in both his hands and he swung the sword above his head, and he smote King Arthur with the edge of the sword upon the helmet. 

  • A thin flat piece of metal, formed from a sheet by punching; a small washer put on the end of a rivet before it is swaged down. 

  • Many saddles, especially those for use on warhorses, had high burr plates and cantles. this was especially important when knights began using stirrups and the couched lance. 

  • A rough humming sound. 

  • 1819, Abraham Rees, The Cyclopaedia 

  • 2015, James B. Tschen-Emmons, Artifacts from Medieval Europe, page 280 

  • A burr knot or burl. 

  • A sharp, pointy object, such as a sliver or splinter. 

  • 1724, John Guillim, A Display of Heraldry 

  • A revolving disk or cone with abrasive surfaces used to grind hard products in a grinder or mill. 

  • We are made to witness a cathartic shuffling-off of mortalities and of hatreds: Mordred's pulling himself up to the 'burr' of Arthur's spear is Malory's own detail and one of the most memorable in the book. 

  • A bur; a seed pod with sharp features that stick in fur or clothing. 

  • A broad iron ring on a tilting lance just below the grip, to prevent the hand from slipping. 

  • The ear lobe. 

  • A small piece of material left on an edge after a cutting operation. 

  • The knot at the bottom of an antler. 

  • The front of it was defended by an iron-plate, called a vam-plat, that is, an avant-plate, and behind it was a broad iron ring, called a burr. 

  • burr or ring of iron behind the hand 

  • 2003, Thomas Howard Crofts, Fifteenth-century Malory, page 290 

  • 2012, Howard Pyle, The Story of the Grail and the Passing of Arthur 

verb
  • To pronounce with a uvular "r". 

  • To make a rough humming sound. 

How often have the words breastplate and burr occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )