Burl v. t. (past & past part. burled; pres. part. burling) To dress or finish up (cloth); to pick knots, burs, loose threads, etc., from, as in finishing cloth.
Burling iron, a peculiar kind of nippers or tweezers used in burling woolen cloth.
noun
Burl n.
1.
A knot or lump in thread or cloth.
2.
An overgrown knot, or an excrescence, on a tree; also, veneer made from such excrescences.
... last within a hundred feet of the ruin, and saw people lifting up the engine and removing a limp figure. Just then two people stepped in his way. He did not turn out but rushed straight at them, rather glad to have something to burl aside in his blind anger, nor did he notice that one was a woman. Harry's plunge carried him between them and knocked both down, just as he had often bowled over the "interference" in his football games. On he lurched, wondering ... — The Perils of Pauline • Charles Goddard
...
