The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
      [1913 Webster]

            In his latter days, with overliberal diet, [he was]
            somewhat corpulent and burly.         --Sir T. More.
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            Burly and big, and studious of his ease. --Cowper.
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   2. Coarse and rough; boisterous.
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            It was the orator's own burly way of nonsense.
                                                  --Cowley.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

burly
    adj 1: 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, burly, husky, strapping,
           buirdly]