Broadsword

A sword with a broad blade and a cutting edge, but capable of being used like the rapier for thrusting. When made so as to be employed in the latter way, as well as for cutting, it is called a sabre, and forms one of the weapons of the modern cavalry soldier. The modern representative of the old English B. is the claymore (q. v.), with which the Highland regiments of the British army are still armed. The English people became more and more skilful in the use of the B., according as the wearing of suits of mail began to grow out. In the days of Queen Elizabeth, the "swash-bucklers," or "bullies," of that period achieved an unenviable notoriety for their skill in it. The buck ler, or shield, a very ancient piece of armor, generally accompanied the B., forming as it did the principal means of defence against it. At the close of the 16th century, sword-and-buckler combats began to decline, having been superseded by the continental mode of catel; It. brocatello.] A coarse kind of brocade used in tapestry. Broccoli, ( brok'ko - li ,) n. [Fr. brocoli ; It. broccolo; Sp. broculi .] ( Hort .) The Bra ica oleracea , a common garden vegetable differing from the cauliflower only in having colored instead of white heads. See CAULIFLOWER. Broch'antite, n. ( Min . ) A native sulphate of copper, thus named after Brochant the French mineralogist. Broche, ( brōch .) See BROACH. Brochette', n. [Fr.] A skewer to stick meat on. - A mode of frying chickens. Brochure, (bro- shoor ',) n. [Fr., from brocher , to stitch, from broche, a needle.] A pamphlet; a printed and stitched publication on a small scale; as, the author of a witty brochure . Brock, ( broc ,) n. [A.S. broc ; Dan. brok ; Ir. broc ; Corn. and W. brock; Gael. breac , spotted, speckled, piebald.) (Zool.) A badger, so named from the white streaks on its face. See BADGER. "Or with pretence of chasing thence the brock."-Ben Jonson. -A BROCKET, q . v. Brock, in Ohio , a post-office of Darke co. Brocken, ( brok'kn ,) the culminating point of the Hartz Mountains, in N. Germany, kingdom of Saxony, cultivated nearly to its summit, which is 3,740 feet above the level of the sea. The phenomenon called the "Spectre of the Brocken" is here occasionally seen at sunset and sunrise. It is caused by the perpendicular rising of the mists from the valley opposite to the sun, at the same time leaving the top of the mountain clear. The effect produced is a wonderful enlargement of every object reflected by this dense ma of vapor ascending from the valley.