burrow

Meanings

Noun

• A tunnel or hole, often as dug by a small creature.
• A heap or heaps of rubbish or refuse.
• A mound.
• An incorporated town.

Verb

• to dig a tunnel or hole
• (with adverbial of direction) to move underneath or press up against in search of safety or comfort
• (with into) to investigate thoroughly

Origin

• From Middle English borowe, borewe, borwȝ, burȝe, burh, burye, apparently a variant of Middle English burgh (see borough) and thus from Old English burh, from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("stronghold, city"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ("high"), but this sense is not known in 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").