bristlers
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A group of German refugees with Marxist leanings in 1849 who scattered to Switzerland, France and England.
Register: derogatory, slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
The manufacturers agreed not to maintain any relations with the Bristlers' Trade Union, and they also agreed to introduce piecework wages where such wages did not exist, and to reduce the scale of piece-work where they did exist.
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “bristlers” mean?
A group of German refugees with Marxist leanings in 1849 who scattered to Switzerland, France and England.
Is “bristlers” formal or informal?
bristlers is generally derogatory, slang.