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Easily broken; brittle; shattery.

ontract into a less extent or compass; to gather together; to become compacted. And on a broken reed he still did stay His feeble steps, which shrunk when hard thereon he lay. Spenser. I have not found that water, by mixture of ashes, will shrink or draw into less room. Bacon. Against this fire do I shrink up. Shak. An…

rated, or planet-struck; esp., blast in plants; also, a sudden and apparently causeless stroke of disease, as in apoplexy or paralysis. [Obs.] Ray.

Having simplicity of action; especially (Mach.), acting or exerting force during strokes in one direction only; -- said of a reciprocating engine, pump, etc.

A sunstroke.

Skeleton proof, a proof of a print or engraving, with the inscription outlined in hair strokes only, such proofs being taken before the engraving is finished. -- Skeleton regiment, a regiment which has its complement of officers, but in which there are few enlisted men. -- Skeleton shrimp (Zoöl.), a small crustacean…

A blow; a smart stroke. [Prov. Eng.] Brockett.

The act or motion of hurling as with a sling; a throw; figuratively, a stroke. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Shak. At one sling Of thy victorius arm, well-pleasing Son. Milton.

Easily broken through; boggy; marshy; swampy. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S.] Bartlett.

to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stroke of a bow; a tie; a sign of legato.

Causing a smart; pungent; pricking; as, a smart stroke or taste. How smart lash that speech doth give my conscience. Shak.

To break in pieces by violence; to dash to pieces; to crush. Here everything is broken and smashed to pieces. Burke.

by, or as by, an unctuous or adhesive substance; a blot or blotch; a daub; a stain. Slow broke the morn, All damp and rolling vapor, with no sun, But in its place a moving smear of light. Alexander Smith.

To blast; to destroy the life or vigor of, as by a stroke or by some visitation. The flax and the barely was smitten. Ex. ix. 31.

The act of making smooth; a stroke which smooths. Thackeray.

To make smug, or spruce. [Obs.] Thus said, he smugged his beard, and stroked up fair. Dryton.

A tooth projecting beyond the rest; contemptuously, a broken or decayed tooth. Prior.

A small piece, fragment, or quantity; a broken part; a scrap. We have often little snatches of sunshine. Spectator. Leave me your snatches, and yield me a direct answer. Shak.

A half suppressed, broken laugh. [Written also snigger.]

nder or condenser of a steam engine, to allow the escape of air when the piston makes a stroke; -- so called from the noise made by its action.