Bris"tle, v. i. 1. To rise or stand erect, like bristles.
His hair did bristle upon his head.
Sir W. Scott.
2. To appear as if covered with bristles; to have standing, thick and erect, like bristles.
The hill of La Haye Sainte bristling with ten thousand bayonets.
Thackeray.
Ports bristling with thousands of masts.
Macaulay.