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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.

slowly, as glass, cast iron, steel, or other metal, for the purpose of rendering it less brittle; to temper; to toughen.

The process used to render glass, iron, etc., less brittle, performed by allowing them to cool very gradually from a high heat.

of a steel-gray color and brilliant luster, though usually dull from tarnish. It is very brittle, and sublimes at 356º Fahrenheit. It is sometimes found native, but usually combined with silver, cobalt, nickel, iron, antimony, or sulphur. Orpiment and realgar are two of its sulphur compounds, the first of which is the…

Mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, or compact native bitumen. It is brittle, of a black or brown color and high luster on a surface of fracture; it melts and burns when heated, leaving no residue. It occurs on the surface and shores of the Dead Sea, which is therefore called Asphaltites, or the Asphaltic Lake. It is found als…

e, and whisky. Barley bird (Zoöl.), the siskin. -- Barley sugar, sugar boiled till it is brittle (formerly with a decoction of barley) and candied. -- Barley water, a decoction of barley, used in medicine, as a nutritive and demulcent.

A resinous substance, dry and brittle, obtained from the Styrax benzoin, a tree of Sumatra, Java, etc., having a fragrant odor, and slightly aromatic taste. It is used in the preparation of benzoic acid, in medicine, and as a perfume.

white color, crystallizing in rhombohedrons. It is somewhat harder than lead, and rather brittle; masses show broad cleavage surfaces when broken across. It melts at 507º Fahr., being easily fused in the flame of a candle. It is found in a native state, and as a constituent of some minerals. Specific gravity 9.8. Atom…

By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petroleums, and even the light, volatile naphthas.

Brittle, as wood or vegetables. [Colloq., U. S.] Bartlett.

Brittle; easily broken. [Obs. or Prov.] Spenser. As stubborn steel excels the brickle glass. Turbervile.

Brittleness. [Obs.]

suit the particular purposes. The varieties containing the higher proportions of tin are brittle, as in bell metal and speculum metal.

Brittle. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Brittleness. [Obs.] Chaucer.

tings, and for conversion into wrought iron and steel. It can not be welded or forged, is brittle, and sometimes very hard. Besides carbon, it contains sulphur, phosphorus, silica, etc.

antly in the mineral chromite. Atomic weight 52.5. Symbol Cr. When isolated it is a hard, brittle, grayish white metal, fusible with difficulty. Its chief commercial importance is for its compounds, as potassium chromate, lead chromate, etc., which are brilliantly colored and are used dyeing and calico printing. Called…