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A photometric standard used in France, having the value of one twentieth of the Violle platinum standard, or slightly less than a British standard candle. Called also decimal candle.

To name the boundaries of; as, to bound France.

ch has occupied several European thrones, and whose descendants still claim the throne of France.

A man of middle rank in society; one of the shopkeeping class. [France.] a.

A saw with a thin or narrow blade set in a strong frame.

A frame or fender of rope or junk, laid out at the sides or bows of a vessel to secure it from injury by floating ice.

to transmit, or change the direction of, weight or pressure; any one of the pieces, in a frame or truss, which divide the structure into triangular parts. It may act as a tie, or as a strut, and serves to prevent distortion of the structure, and transverse strains in its members. A boiler brace is a diagonal stay, con…

A frame for confining a refractory horse while the smith is shoeing him; also, an inclosure to restrain cattle, horses, etc. A horse . . . which Philip had bought . . . and because of his fierceness kept him within a brake of iron bars. J. Brende.

colding bridle, an instrument formerly used for correcting scolding women. It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold.

Broken and angular fragments of rocks underlying alluvial deposits. Lyell.

Resembling, or of the nature of, brash, or broken fragments; broken; crumbly.

An artificer who works in brass. Franklin.

Specifically: A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment; as, a breach of contract; a breach of promise.

To strain apart; to sever by fracture; to divide with violence; as, to break a rope or chain; to break a seal; to break an axle; to break rocks or coal; to break a lock. Shak.

Fragrance; exhalation; odor; perfume. Tennison. The breath of flowers. Bacon.

to blow gently. The air breathes upon us here most sweetly. Shak. There breathes a living fragrance from the shore. Byron.

Full of breath; full of odor; fragrant. [Obs.]

A rock composed of angular fragments either of the same mineral or of different minerals, etc., united by a cement, and commonly presenting a variety of colors. Bone breccia, a breccia containing bones, usually fragmentary. -- Coin breccia, a breccia containing coins.

Consisting of angular fragments cemented together; resembling breccia in appearance. The brecciated appearance of many specimens [of meteorites]. H. A. Newton.

Of or relating to Brittany, or Bretagne, in France. -- n.