Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Burly \Bur"ly\ (b[^u]r"l[y^]), a. [OE. burlich strong,
   excellent; perh. orig. fit for a lady's bower, hence
   handsome, manly, stout. Cf. {Bower}.]
   1. Having a large, strong, or gross body; stout; lusty; --
      now used chiefly of human beings, but formerly of animals,
      in the sense of stately or beautiful, and of inanimate
      things that were huge and bulky. ``Burly sacks.''
      --Drayton.

            In his latter days, with overliberal diet, [he was]
            somewhat corpulent and burly.         --Sir T. More.

            Burly and big, and studious of his ease. --Cowper.

   2. Coarse and rough; boisterous.

            It was the orator's own burly way of nonsense.
                                                  --Cowley.

Source : WordNet®

burly
     adj : muscular and heavily built; "a beefy wrestler"; "had a tall
           burly frame"; "clothing sizes for husky boys"; "a
           strapping boy of eighteen"; "`buirdly' is a Scottish
           term" [syn: {beefy}, {husky}, {strapping}, {buirdly}]
     [also: {burliest}, {burlier}]