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A rough diamond.

A native oxide of manganese, of dark brownish black color. It was named from a Mr. Braun of Gotha.

The fruit of a tree (Artocarpus incisa) found in the islands of the Pacific, esp. the South Sea islands. It is of a roundish form, from four to six or seven inches in diameter, and, when baked, somewhat resembles bread, and is eaten as food, whence the name.

A key or other device for breaking an electrical circuit.

Shortness of duration; briefness of time; as, the brevity of human life.

A rare zeolitic mineral occurring in white monoclinic crystals with pearly luster. It is a hydrous silicate of aluminia, baryta, and strontia.

The young of the common herring; also, a small species of herring; the sprat.

A white-metal alloy of tin, antimony, bismuth, copper, etc. It somewhat resembles silver, and isused for table ware. Called also Britannia metal.

Of or pertaining to Great Britain; British; as, her Britannic Majesty.

To be or become overripe, as wheat, barley, or hops. [Prov. Eng.]

A word, phrase, or idiom peculiar to Great Britain; any manner of using a word or words that is peculiar to Great Britain.

Of or pertaining to Great Britain or to its inhabitants; -- sometimes restrict to the original inhabitants. British gum, a brownish substance, very soluble in cold water, formed by heating dry starch at a temperature of about 600° Fahr. It corresponds, in its properties, to dextrin, and is used, in solution, as a subst…

An Englishman; a subject or inhabitant of Great Britain, esp. one in the British military or naval service. [Now used jocosely]

British. [Obs.] Spenser. -- n.

Easily 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.

Any species of ophiuran starfishes. See Ophiuroidea.

In a brittle manner. Sherwood.

Aptness to break; fragility.

A long carriage, with a calash top, so constructed as to give space for reclining at night, when used on a journey.

A basic sulphate of copper, occurring in emerald-green crystals.