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.