Converse of object

• have: Each segment has four tiny bristles ( tough hairs ) underneath its body.

Object

• beard: Certainly from those slimy, tormented lips above the bristling gray beard came nothing but dreams and disconnected fancies... .

Preposition: at

• suggestion: For her part, Fiorina bristles at suggestions that the merged company is essentially a cost-cutting story.

Modifies a noun

• brush: Even with an internal panel, dusting with a very soft bristle brush is better than using a liquid method.

• bent: The dry heath areas are dominated by ling, bell heather and bristle bent grass.

• worm: Karen found a very nice bristle worm - about 10 cms long - on top of a rock.

Preposition: with

• idea: My brain is bristling with ideas from last night.

Noun used with modifier

• nylon: The float is shotted down to its nylon bristle, with a bulk or olivette only six inches away from the hook.

Used with why or when

• when: He can accept authority that is exercised harmoniously, but bristles when he comes up against abrasive authority.

Preposition: of

• brush: With the bristles of the brush uppermost ( forming the hair ), place the rubber band where the mouth should be.

Preposition: with

• wit: It bristles with wit, satire and contemporary political relevance.

Followed by an intransitive particle

• up: He was of a sickly color, and his thin, sandy hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion.