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burrow

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burrow¹

  • /ˈbʌɹəʊ/ UK
  • /ˈbʌɹoʊ/ US
  • /ˈbɜɹoʊ/
  • /ˈbʊɹəʊ/ Northern England
  • /-ɹoʊ/ Northern England
  • /-ɹoː/ Northern England
  • /-ɹə/ Northern England
  • /ˈbʌɾo/ Scotland
  • /ˈbʌɾou/ Wales

Sounds like borough (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -ʌɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English borowe, borewe, borwȝ, burȝe, burh, burye (“refuge for an animal, lair, burrow”), apparently a variant of Middle English burgh (“fortified dwelling, stronghold, refuge”) (see borough) and thus from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high”), but this sense is not known in Old English burh. Compare, however, Dutch cognate burcht, which has a similar sense.

It may be related to bury (“to dig”), in which case it would be derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to protect, defend, save, preserve”).

noun burrows

  1. A tunnel or hole, or a system of tunnels, often as dug by a small creature for use as a home. But very soon he grew to like it, for the Boy used to talk to him, and made nice tunnels for him under the bedclothes that he said were like the burrows the real rabbits lived in.

    Similar: earth, warren

  2. obsolete Obsolete form of barrow (“a mound”). Such another chapel as this, though not built upon a burrow of stones, is to be seen on Montague Hill, in Somersetshire, and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel […]
  3. obsolete Obsolete form of borough (“an incorporated town”).

verb burrows · burrowing · burrowed

  1. intransitive To dig a tunnel or hole.
  2. intransitive, with an adverbial of direction To move underneath or press up against in search of safety or comfort. The young girl burrowed into the bed.
  3. intransitive, with into To investigate thoroughly. The journalist burrowed into the origins of the mayor's corruption.

Burrow²

Where it comes from

English surname, from the noun borough. Also from the noun burrow and the two senses were often conflated. Compare Burrough, Burgh.

proper noun Burrows

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Broadclyst parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SX9997).
  3. countable, uncountable A settlement in Newton Poppleford and Harpford parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SY0789).
  4. countable, uncountable A settlement in Kingsbury Episcopi parish, Somerset, which includes Higher Burrow and Lower Burrow (OS grid ref ST4120).
  5. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Wootton Courtenay parish and Timberscombe parish, Somerset (OS grid ref SS9342).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tunnel, lair, rathole, excavate, hole, den, dig, bury, widen, owl, trench, burrhole, crawlway, boring, beanhole, bunny

Translations

Every language

noun a tunnel or hole

Españolmadriguera, ratonera
한국어굴 gul, 소굴 sogul
日本語穴 ana, 巣穴 suana
中文地洞 dìdòng
हिन्दीबिल bil
Portuguêstúnel, toca
Françaisterrier, clapier
DeutschBau
Italianotana, buca, covo, cunicolo
Românăvizuină
Русскийнора́ norá
Tiếng Việthang
العربيةجُحْر juḥr, سَرَب sarab, دَوْلَج dawlaj
עבריתחור khor, מחילה mekhilá, מאורה meurá

verb to dig a hole

Españolsocavar, cavar
Portuguêscavar
Deutschgraben
Italianoscavare una tana

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Cite this
MLA

"burrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/burrow. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

burrow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/burrow

Chicago

"burrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/burrow.

BibTeX
@misc{burrow_2026,
  title = {burrow},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/burrow},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}