Search the Dictionary

ssed body, and a band of red running lengthwise. -- Serpent star (Zoöl.), an ophiuran; a brittle star. -- Serpent's tongue (Paleon.), the fossil tooth of a shark; -- so called from its resemblance to a tongue with its root. -- Serpent withe (Bot.), a West Indian climbing plant (Aristolochia odoratissima). -- Tree s…

A piece or fragment of an earthen vessel, or a like brittle substance, as the shell of an egg or snail. Shak. The precious dish Broke into shards of beauty on the board. E. Arnold.

Easily breaking into pieces; not compact; loose of texture; brittle; as, shattery spar.

dle of grain or straw. The reaper fills his greedy hands, And binds the golden sheaves in brittle bands. Dryden.

One of the small pieces, or splinters, into which a brittle thing is broken by sudden violence; -- generally used in the plural. "All to shivers dashed." Milton.

Easily broken; brittle; shattery.

Brittle.

To break at once; to break short, as substances that are brittle. Breaks the doors open, snaps the locks. Prior.

rona. Sodium chloride, common, or table, salt, NaCl. -- Sodium hydroxide, a white opaque brittle solid, NaOH, having a fibrous structure, produced by the action of quicklime, or of calcium hydrate (milk of lime), on sodium carbonate. It is a strong alkali, and is used in the manufacture of soap, in making wood pulp fo…

Liable to break or split; brittle; as, spalt timber. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

and is much more brilliant in the adult male than in the female. Speculum metal, a hard, brittle alloy used for making the reflectors of telescopes and other instruments, usually consisting of copper and tin in various proportions, one of the best being that in which there are 126.4 parts of copper to 58.9 parts of ti…

A starfish, or brittle star.

mony and silver of an iron-black color and metallic luster; called also black silver, and brittle silver ore.

rangibility; as, the strength of a bone, of a beam, of a wall, a rope, and the like. "The brittle strength of bones." Milton.

arance, obtained by pouring melted sulphur into water. On standing, it passes back into a brittle crystalline modification. -- Liver of sulphur. (Old Chem.) See Hepar. -- Sulphur acid. (Chem.) See Sulphacid. -- Sulphur alcohol. (Chem.) See Mercaptan. -- Sulphur auratum Etym: [L.] (Old Chem.), a golden yellow powder…

hout considerable force; cohesiveness; the effect of attraction; -- as distinguished from brittleness, fragility, mobility, etc.

e, and reduced as a soft white crystalline metal, malleable at ordinary temperatures, but brittle when heated. It is not easily oxidized in the air, and is used chiefly to coat iron to protect it from rusting, in the form of tin foil with mercury to form the reflective surface of mirrors, and in solder, bronze, speculu…

Having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough. "Tough roots and stubs. " Milton.

A brittle mineral of a steel-gray color and metallic luster, containing antimony, arsenic, sulphur, and nickel.

Native zinc oxide; a brittle, translucent mineral, of an orange-red color; -- called also red zinc ore, and red oxide of zinc.