Forms: 1 brídlian, 2–3 bridlenn (Orm.), 3 bridlen, 4 bridele, brydelen, 5 brydelle, brydelyn, brydyl, 5–6 brydel, 6 bridill, brydell, brydil, brydle, 6–7 bridel, 5– bridle. [OE. brídlian, ʓebrídlian, f. brídel, BRIDLE. Cf. OHG. brittolôn, MHG. britteln.]
1. trans. To put a bridle on (a horse), to furnish with a bridle; also (obs.), to guide or control with a bridle.
1393. Gower, Conf., I. 110. Som prick her horse aside, And bridlen hem now in now oute.
c. 1449. Promp. Parv., 50. Brydelyn, freno.
1530. Palsgr., 939. To bridel, brider.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 42. The Recruits are to be taught to saddle and bridle.
b. To furnish with a bridle in other senses.
1758. J. S., Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (1771), 332. The Membranes which cover the Muscles, and might bridle that Part of the Wound.
c. 1838. C. Bathurst, Nets, 34. A net is bridled at its four outer margins when it is desirable to keep the meshes square.
1858. Brushfield, Obsol. Punishm., 13. She [a scold] was ordered to be bridled and to be led through the town.
2. fig. To curb, check, restrain, hold in.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xxi. Bridla þe he þa ʓesceafta nu mid ʓebridlode hæfþ.
c. 1200. Ormin, 11664. Sone iss þe bodiȝ bridledd.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 74. Ȝif eni … ne bridleð nout his tunge.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xlviii. 9. In my preissing I shal bridele thee, lest thou die.
1548. Udall, Erasm. Par., Pref. 6. Also to bridle the insolencie.
1634. Milton, Comus, 887. Rise, rise … And bridle in thy headlong wave.
1713. Young, Last Day, I. 274. He bridles in the monsters of the deep.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 41. I bridled my passion with all my power.
1756. C. Lucas, Ess. Waters, II. 145. How is the action of iron bridled by sulphur?
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), III. 64. To bridle the clergy.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 397. Scipio bridled his indignation.
b. In military sense: To hold in check, control.
1615. E. Grimstone, Hist. World, 86. They are bridled of all sides … by a great number of strong places.
1690. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), II. 105. Fortifyeing Thonon, a small place on the lake of Geneva, which will bridle that citty.
1761. Hume, Hist. Eng., III. lvi. 99. Forts were erected in order to bridle Rochelle.
1876. Green, Short Hist., ii. § 6 (1882), 85. Scotland … was bridled by the erection of a strong fortress at Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
3. To throw up the head and draw in the chin, (as a horse does when reined in), expressing pride, vanity or resentment; to assume a dignified or offended air or manner.
† a. trans. and refl. Obs.
c. 1480. Ragman Roll, 129, in Hazl., E. P. P., 75. Ful feire brydelyn ye your cowntenaunce, And propirly unto the brest adowne.
1606. Day, Ile of Gulls, II. iv. (1881), 52. Then doe I bridle my head like a malt-horse.
1752. Fielding, Amelia, Wks. (1775), X. 303. ‘Is she,’ said my aunt, bridling herself, ‘fit to decide between us?’
b. intr. (See BRIDLING vbl. sb. 3.)
c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, in Babees Bk. (1868), 135. Brydelynge with brest vppon your crawe.
c. 1550. Jack Juggler, in Hazl., Dodsley, II. 117. She minceth, she bridleth, she swimmeth to and fro.
1706. Reflex. upon Ridicule, 89. Whenever you tell her she is handsom, she bridles.
1748. Mrs. Dewes, in Mrs. Delaney’s Corr. (1861), II. 485. Pauline … bridles very well.
1807. Opie, Lect. Art, IV. (1848), 330. Smirking damsels … flaunting and bridling in all the tawdry dresses and fashionable airs of the time.
1876. Miss Braddon, J. Haggard’s Dau., II. 87. The spinsters bridled, taking this as in somewise a personal affront.
† c. Formerly also To bridle it. Obs.
1590. R. Harvey, Pl. Perc., 18. You shal haue a lame Iade, bridle, and brag it vp and downe Smithfield … as though hee could stand on no ground for lustines.
1624. Bp. M. Smyth, Serm., 172. Shall we bridle it or bristle it against him?
d. Now commonly To bridle up (occas. back).
1748. Smollett, Rod. Rand. (1812), I. 343. She … bridled up, assumed an air of disdain.
1759. Goldsm., Bee, No. 5. Reverie, She instantly bridles up and feels the force of the well-timed flattery. Ibid. (1760–2), Cit. World, lxxvi. Sometimes she … would bridle back, in order to inspire us with respect as well as tenderness.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop (C. D. ed.), 19. Everybody bridled up at this remark.
† f. To bridle upon (a thing).
1748. Richardson, Clarissa (1811), II. xviii. 119. I can not indeed but say, bridling upon it, that I have heard famous scholars often and often say very silly things. Ibid. (1754), Grandison, IV. xv. 110. She took to herself, and bridled upon it, the praises and graces this adroit manager gave her.
