Definition of "briar" [bri•ar]

• A Mediterranean shrub or small tree (Erica arborea) whose hard, woody roots are used to make tobacco pipes. (noun)
• A pipe made from the root of this plant or from a similar wood. (noun)
• Variant of brier1. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The rosa multiflora--the rambling rose, what I call the briar rose, because it is clearly the killer rose that protected Sleeping Beauty's castle for a century--is sending its arms across the path in the undiscovered country."
• "Finaly Brad says (calm and cool) "She's lieing right there" (points to spot 10ft. from blood on road in briar thicket)."
• "To me she seems pretty much below the radar, and seen to have been pushed into the background aka the briar patch."