To bear the brunt. To bear the stress, the heat, and collision. The same word as “burn.” (Icelandic, bruni, burning heat, bren; Anglo-Saxon, brenning, burning.) The “brunt of a battle” is the hottest part of the fight. (Compare “fire-brand.”)
· ·
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
· 
· 