A thin Indian hand-rolled cigarette made with tobacco wrapped in a leaf; a cheap cigarette widely used in South Asia.
From Hindi/Urdu 'bīṛī.' This word entered English through British colonial contact with India in the 19th-20th centuries as a loanword.
Biri represent an overlooked part of tobacco history—millions of people in South Asia hand-roll these daily, yet they rarely appear in Western discussions of smoking culture. They're often cheaper and more accessible than factory cigarettes.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.