| Adj. | 1. | bristled - having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.; "a horse with a short bristly mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous whiskers"barbellate, briary, briery, setaceous, setose, spiny, burred, burry, prickly, barbed, thorny, bristly armed - used of plants and animals | |