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Now there are tennis courts in Plumstead Common, where a group of women once axed down fences and set the furze on fire to protest enclosure.—
Eula Biss,
The New Yorker,
8 June 2022
Word History
Etymology
Middle English firse, from Old English fyrs; akin to Russian pyreĭ quack grass, Greek pyros wheat
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of furze was
before the 12th century