brittle (britl)

[ How brotel and how false he was. Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 2555. 2. Breaking easily and suddenly with a comparatively smooth fracture, as gla ; fragile; not tough or tenacious. IMG:content-2566.png:[blocks in formation] = 688 broc, a spit, It. brocco, a sharp stake, a sprout, etc.), E. prog ); Gael. brog, a shoemakers' awl, E. brog1 ).] 1. A spit. Thre balefulle birdez his brochez they turne. Morte Arthure , 1. 1029. And some failed not to take the child and bind it to a broach, and lay it to the fire to roast. Sir T. More, Works, p. 259. He turned a broach, that had worn a crown. 21. A spear. Bacon , Hist. Hen. VII. That fruit was of a mayden born On a theoues tre is al totorn A broche thorwout his brest [bor]n. Legends of the Holy Rood (ed. Morris), p. 133. 3. An awl; a bodkin. [Prov. Eng.] -4. A spike; a skewer; a sharp stick; specifically, a rod of sallow, hazel, or other tough and pliant wood, sharpened at each end and bent in the middle, used by thatchers to pierce and fix their work. [Prov. Eng.] Broche for a thacstare [thaxter, thatcher), firmaculum. Prompt. Parv., p. 52. IMG:content-2567.png:[blocks in formation] Brochez the baye stede, and to the buske rydez. Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 918. 3. In masonry, to rough-hew. [North. Eng. and Scotch.] -4. To open for the first time for the purpose of taking out something; more especially, to tap or pierce, as a cask in order to draw the liquor: as, to broach a hogshead. Descending into the cellars, they broached every cask they found there. Motley, Dutch Republic, L. 564. Hence, figuratively - 5. To open, as the mouth for utterance. Desiring Virtue might be her first growth, And Hallelujah broach her holy mouth. 6. To let out; shed. J. Beaumont, Psyche, i. 68. This blow should broach thy dearest blood. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., iii. 4. 5t. A spur.-6t. A fish-hook. Prompt . Parv. - 7. To state or give expre ion to for the first 7t. A spike or standard for a candle. A broche with a fote, ij new torches. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 327. 8t. A taper; a torch. Hewe fuyr of a flynt four hundred wynter; Bote thou haue tache to take hit with tunder and broches , Al thy labour is lost. Piers Plowman (C), xx. 211. 9. A spindle; a spool. [Scotch.] Broche of threde, vericulum. Prompt . Parv ., p. 52. time; utter; give out; especially, begin conversation or discu ion about; introduce by way of topic: as, to broach a theory or an opinion. This error... was first broached by Joseph us. Raleigh, Hist. World, i. 3. Here was our Paolo brought To broach a weighty busine . Browning , Ring and Book, I. 107. 10. In arch., formerly, a spire of any kind; now, 8t. To give a start to; set going. specifically, as used in some parts of England and by some writers on arch itecture, a spire which rises directly from the walls of its tower, without parapets and gutters. - 11. A narrow - pointed chisel used by masons for One woful day sweeps children, friends and wife, And all the brittle ble ings of my life! IMG:content-2568.png:[blocks in formation] 2. The property of breaking readily with a comparatively smooth fracture; frangibility: the opposite of toughne and tenacity. A rod of good steel, in its hardest state, is broken almost as easily as a rod of gla of the same size, and this brittlene can only be diminished by diminishing its hard ne . G. Ede, in Campin's Mech. Engineering, p. 360. brittle-star (brit'l-stär), n. A name of sundry sand-stars, or ophiurians, from their fragility. See cuts under As trophy ton and star - fish. britzska, n. See britska. Briza (brī'zä), n. [NL.,