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A piece of defensive armor for the arm. Johnson.

An architectural member, plain or ornamental, projecting from a wall or pier, to support weight falling outside of the same; also, a decorative feature seeming to discharge such an office.

A piece of mechanism for retarding or stopping motion by friction, as of a carriage or railway car, by the pressure of rubbers against the wheels, or of clogs or ratchets against the track or roadway, or of a pivoted lever against a wheel or drum in a machine.

to a pilot, authorizing him to pilot vessels in certain waters. Branches of a bridle, two pieces of bent iron, which bear the bit, the cross chains, and the curb. -- Branch herring. See Alewife. -- Root and branch , totally, wholly.

A burning piece of wood; or a stick or piece of wood partly burnt, whether burning or after the fire is extinct. Snatching a live brand from a wigwam, Mason threw it on a matted roof. Palfrey.

A sort of bridle with wooden side pieces. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Jamieson.

To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce; as, the cavalry were not able to break the British squares.

A thick piece of timber in the form of a knee, placed across the stem of a ship to strengthen the fore part and unite the bows on each side. Totten.

s defensive armor. Before his old rusty breastplate could be scoured, and his cracked headpiece mended. Swift.

The movable piece which closes the breech of a breech-loading firearm, and resists the backward force of the discharge. It is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge, and closed again before the gun is fired.

Miscellaneous curiosities and works of decorative art, considered collectively. A piece of bric-a-brac, any curious or antique article of virtu, as a piece of antiquated furniture or metal work, or an odd knickknack.

A piece or fragment of a brick. See Bat, 4. Bacon.

the passage of armies; also, a floating structure connected by a cable with an anchor or pier up stream, and made to pass from bank to bank by the action of the current or other means. -- Girder bridge or Truss bridge, a bridge formed by girders, or by trusses resting upon abutments or piers. -- Lattice bridge, a br…

The piece in the interior of a gun lock, which holds in place the timbler, sear, etc.

A copier of a manuscript.

, used for paving; also, a molded sample of solidified cement or mortar for use as a test piece for showing the strength of the material.

ily broken; apt to break; fragile; not tough or tenacious. Farewell, thou pretty, brittle piece Of fine-cut crystal. Cotton. Brittle silver ore, the mineral stephanite.

To spit; to pierce as with a spit. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. Shak.

Separated into parts or pieces by violence; divided into fragments; as, a broken chain or rope; a broken dish.

broken state; in broken language. The pagans worship God . . . as it were brokenly and by piecemeal. Cudworth.