ˈnurly, a.
[var. of knurly a.]
(See quots.)
| 1806 Fessenden Orig. Poems 136 He's tall, like swamp cedar,..But shrub-oak was never so nurly. Note, A yankeyism for knotty, or gnarled. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 298 Nurly, a corrupt pronunciation and orthography of gnarly, i.e. gnarled. 1871 Schele de Vere Americanisms 620 Persons..are said to be nurly when they are ill-tempered and cross-grained. |