brittle
brittle
Definition
brit·tle (brit′'l)
adjective
- easily broken or shattered because hard and inflexible
- having a sharp, hard quality brittle tones
- stiff and unbending in manner; lacking warmth
Etymology: ME britel < OE breotan, to break to pieces; akin to ON brjota < IE *bhreu- < base *bher-, to cut with a sharp point
noun
a brittle, crunchy candy with nuts in it peanut brittle
brit′·tlely adverb or brit′·tly
brit′·tle·ness noun
brittle
Synonyms
brittle
Usage Examples
Preposition: at
- temperature: Cryogenic milling is used to break down some metals which become brittle at low temperatures.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
- make: The presence of the carbide makes the metal very brittle.
- leave: Frequent wetting and drying of hands can leave nails brittle.
Modifies a noun
- bladder-fern: The brittle bladder-fern, for instance, spread from the north and west to the South East and East Anglia.
- fracture: Plastic deformation must not be carried beyond a certain point or brittle fracture is likely to result.
- bone: The Society knows of about 3500 people with brittle bones in all parts of the United Kingdom.
- nail: A: " Brittle nails are the result of severe dehydration in the nail plates.
- deformation: Material heterogeneity and loading history are fundamental to the initiation and evolution of distributed brittle deformation.
- asthma: People with brittle asthma can have a fatal attack with no warning whatsoever.
Modifying Another Word
- extremely: Elijah ( Samuel L. Jackson ) barely survives being born with a rare disease that leaves his bones extremely brittle.
- relatively: The critical load for adhesion failure is easiest to identify in the case of a hard, relatively brittle film on a softer substrate.
- too: Will you get a call saying your film is too brittle?
- rather: The wire itself is very stiff and rather brittle.
- quite: This version also has a red plastic comb binding, which with age has tended to become quite brittle.
- very: The presence of the carbide makes the metal very brittle.
Used with adjective complement
- become: Poor quality modern papers which have become brittle will not be copied.
- look: The assurances on jobs look very brittle at the moment.
- get: Then, like aging teeth, they get more brittle.
- feel: You know, the days when you feel so brittle, like a slightest gust of wind might knock you down.
Preposition: with
- age: Be careful not to bend the wires too much, as the insulation gets brittle with age and exposure to oil.
Browse dictionary entries near brittle
- Britten
- Brittany spaniel
- Brittany
- Briton
- Britishism
- Britisher
- British West Indies
- British thermal unit
- British Standard Gauge
- British Somaliland
- brittle star
- Brittonic
- britzka
- Brix scale
- Brno
- Bro
- broach
- broad
- broad arrow
- broad-based
