friable
friable
Definition
fri·able (frī′ə bəl)
adjective
easily crumbled or crushed into powder
Etymology: Fr < L friabilis < friare, to rub, crumble < IE base *bhrēi-, to cut, scrape > Russ briti, to shave, L fricare, to rub
fri′·abil′·ity noun or fri′·able·ness
friable
Synonyms
friable
Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- loam: Filled with [ 4195 ] a friable sandy loam ( 10yr 4/6 dark yellow brown ) with various sized pebbles.
- silt: Above these is [ 4191 ] friable sandy silt ( 10yr 3/4 dark yellow brown ) with mixed stones.
- sand: Above this was 017, a friable light gray sand with many stones, including packing stones.
- clay: A further layer of packing, 042, a friable sandy clay ( 7.5 YR 3/3 dark brown ) with more stones overlay this.
- soil: A deep, friable, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter incorporated is ideal.
- rock: Eventually we were bridging up a narrow gully on friable rock.
Modifying Another Word
- very: The bones here were very friable whilst other long bones appeared reasonably strong.
- extremely: It contains a very high quartz and chert content, so that it is extremely friable.
- too: This is because it can be heated and reheated more than 25 times before it becomes too friable to re-use.
- quite: These consist of layers of sand, silt and clay which are quite friable, especially in certain weather conditions.
- somewhat: While quite cheap, a disadvantage is that its surface is somewhat friable and little particles rub off and get everywhere.
- highly: Adding bulky organic matter builds a highly friable, water-retentive and fertile soil.
Used with adjective complement
- become: Experiments with fired clay and plaster stamps yielded similar problems to stone, and the plaster rapidly became friable.
Browse dictionary entries near friable
- friar
- Friar Minor
- friar's lantern
- friarbird
- friary
- fribble
- Fribourg
- fricandeau
- fricassee
- fricative
