bridle

bridle

English

a horse with a bridle

Etymology

From Middle English bridel, from Old English brīdel, from Proto-West Germanic *brigdil, from Proto-Germanic *brigdilaz (“strap, rein”), equivalent to braid +‎ -le.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹaɪdəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: bridal
• Rhymes: -aɪdəl

Noun

bridle (plural bridles)

1. The headgear with which a horse is directed and which carries a bit and reins.
   • 1961, J. A. Philip, "Mimesis in the Sophistês," Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association 92, p. 457:

     […] the horseman, who is the user of bridles and knows their use

2. (figurative) A restraint; a curb; a check.
   • 1729, Isaac Watts, The Doctrine of the Passions explain'd and improv'd

     Let wisdom put a bridle on them before they are grown head-strong and unruly

3. A length of line or cable attached to two parts of something to spread the force of a pull, as the rigging on a kite for attaching line.
4. A mooring hawser.
5. A piece in the interior of a gunlock which holds in place the tumbler, sear, etc.
6. A gesture expressing pride or vanity.

Derived terms

• bridle iron
• bridle path
• bridle-path
• bridle trail
• bridlewise
• bridle wrist
• double bridle
• draw bridle
• scold's bridle
• whim-wham for a goose's bridle
• wigwam for a goose's bridle

 

Translations

headgear for horse

Albanian: gjem m, fre (sq) m Amharic: ልጓም (ləgʷam) Arabic: لِجَام‎ m (lijām), صُرْع‎ m (ṣurʿ), عِنَان‎ m (ʿinān) Egyptian Arabic: لجام‎ m (ligām) Armenian: սանձ (hy) (sanj) Aromanian: fãrnu, frãn Azerbaijani: yüyən (az), cilov (az) Bashkir: йүгән (yügän) Belarusian: вуздэ́чка f (vuzdéčka) Bengali: লাগাম (bn) (lagam) Bulgarian: юзда́ (bg) f (juzdá) Burmese: ဇက်ခွံ့ (my) (jakhkwam.) Catalan: brida (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 轡／辔 (zh) (pèi), 轡頭／辔头 (zh) (pèitóu), 馬籠頭／马笼头 (mǎlóngtóu) Chuvash: йӗвен (jĕven) Cimbrian: brittel m Czech: uzda (cs) f Dalmatian: braina f Danish: bidsel c Dutch: hoofdstel (nl) n, toom (nl) m Esperanto: brido (eo) Estonian: valjad pl Faroese: boksl n Finnish: suitset (fi) pl (headstall, bit and reins); päitset (fi) pl (headstall) French: bride (fr) f Friulian: brene f Galician: brida f, freo (gl) m Georgian: აღვირი (aɣviri), ლაგამი (lagami) German: Zaumzeug (de) n, Zaum (de) m Greek: χαλινάρι (el) n (chalinári) Ancient: ἀμπυκτήρ m (ampuktḗr), ἡνίᾱ f (hēníā) Hebrew: רֶסֶן‎ (he) m (résen) Hindi: लगाम (hi) f (lagām) Hungarian: kantár (hu) Icelandic: beisli (is) n Ido: brido (io) Indonesian: kekang (id) Italian: briglia (it) f Japanese: 手綱 (ja) (たづな, tadzuna) Kazakh: жүген (kk) (jügen) Khmer: បង្ហៀរ (km) (bɑnghiə) Korean: 굴레 (gulle), 고삐 (ko) (goppi) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: لْغاو‎ (liẍaw) Northern Kurdish: dizgîn (ku), liwan (ku), lixav (ku) Southern Kurdish: لْغاو‎ (liẍaw) Kyrgyz: жүгөн (ky) (jügön) Lao: ແຄ່ມ (khǣm), ໃຫຍ້ (nyai) Latin: frēnum n, aurea f Latvian: iemaukti m pl Lithuanian: kamanos m pl Macedonian: узда f (uzda) Malay: kekang Malayalam: കടിഞ്ഞാൺ (ml) (kaṭiññāṇ) Maltese: lġiem m Manchu: ᡥᠠᡩᠠᠯᠠ (hadala) Maori: paraire, paraehe Mongolian: Cyrillic: хазаар (mn) (xazaar) Mongolian: ᠬᠠᠵᠠᠭᠠᠷ (qaǰaɣar) Norman: bridot m (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: bissel n, hodelag n Nynorsk: beisel n, hovudlag n Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: оузда f (uzda) Old East Slavic: узда f (uzda) Old English: brīdel m Pashto: لگام‎ m (legām) Persian: لگام‎ (fa) (legâm), لجام‎‎ (lejâm), عنان‎ (fa) ('anân) Polish: uzda (pl) f, ogłowie (pl) n, tranzelka f Portuguese: brida (pt) f Romanian: frâu (ro) n, hăț (ro) n Russian: узда́ (ru) f (uzdá), узде́чка (ru) f (uzdéčka) Sardinian: frenu Scottish Gaelic: srian f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: узде f pl Roman: uzde f pl Slovak: uzda f Slovene: uzda f Spanish: brida (es) f Swedish: betsel (sv) n Tajik: ҷилав (jilav), лаҷом (lajom), инон (inon) Tatar: йөгән (tt) (yögän) Telugu: కళ్లెము (te) (kaḷlemu) Thai: ขลุม (th) (klǔm), บังเหียน (th) (bang-hǐian) Tigrinya: ልጓም (ləgʷam) Turkish: dizgin (tr), yular (tr) Turkmen: jylaw (tk) Ukrainian: вузде́чка f (vuzdéčka) Urdu: لَگام‎ f (lagām) Uyghur: يۈگەن‎ (yügen), تىزگىن‎ (tizgin) Uzbek: yugan (uz), jugan (uz) Vietnamese: cương ngựa, cương (vi) Vilamovian: caum m Welsh: ffrwyn f Yakut: үүн (üün)

Verb

bridle (third-person singular simple present bridles, present participle bridling, simple past and past participle bridled)

1. (transitive) To put a bridle on.
   • 1835, Joseph Rodman Drake, The Culprit Fay

     He bridled her mouth with a silkweed twist.

2. (transitive) To check, restrain, or control with, or as if with, a bridle; as in bridle your tongue.
   • 1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in [Letters on a Regicide Peace], London: [Rivington]:

     Savoy and Nice, the keys of Italy, and the citadel in her hands to bridle Switzerland, are in that consolidation.

3. (intransitive) To show hostility or resentment.

   Immigrant-rights and religious organizations bridled at the plan to favor highly skilled workers over relatives. (Houston Chronicle, 6/8/2007)

4. (intransitive) To hold up one's head proudly or affectedly.

Synonyms

• restrain

Derived terms

• bridle up
• unbridle

Translations

to put a bridle on

Armenian: սանձահարել (hy) (sanjaharel) Azerbaijani: yüyənləmək Dutch: breidelen (nl) Finnish: suitsia (fi) French: brider (fr) Galician: enfrear (gl), embridar German: aufzäumen (de), Zaumzeug anlegen Greek: Ancient: χαλινόω (khalinóō) Ido: bridagar (io) Italian: imbrigliare (it) Maori: paraire Serbo-Croatian: zauzdati (sh) Swedish: betsla (sv) Turkish: gemlemek (tr)

to check, restrain

Armenian: սանձահարել (hy) (sanjaharel) Aromanian: nfãrnu Bulgarian: обуздавам (bg) (obuzdavam) Dutch: intomen (nl), in bedwang houden Finnish: suitsia (fi) French: brider (fr), refréner (fr) German: zügeln (de), in Zaum halten Romanian: înfrâna (ro)

to show hostility

Dutch: gepikeerd reageren, zich vijandig opstellen Finnish: vastustaa (fi) French: être susceptible, réagir de manière piquée German: feindselig reagieren, abweisend reagieren, sich abweisend verhalten Polish: żachnąć się (pl) n Serbo-Croatian: obuzdati (sh)

Anagrams

• birled

---

Middle English

Noun

bridle

1. Alternative form of bridel