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The state or quality of being flexible; flexibleness; pliancy; pliability; as, the flexibility of strips of hemlock, hickory, whalebone or metal, or of rays of light. Sir I. Newton. All the flexibility of a veteran courtier. Macaulay.

e; unbending pertinacity; steadfastness; resoluteness; unchangeableness; obstinacy. The inflexibility of mechanism. A. Baxter. That grave inflexibility of soul. Churchill. The purity and inflexibility of their faith. T. Warton.

The quality or capability of being reflexible; as, the reflexibility of the rays of light. Sir I. Newton.

, characterized by overlapping plates, arranged to slide on rivets, and thus afford great flexibility.

A florid, brilliant style of music, written for effect, to show the range and flexibility of a singer's voice, or the technical force and skill of a performer; virtuoso music. Aria di bravura ( Etym: [It.], a florid air demanding brilliant execution.

The curve formed by a rope or chain of uniform density and perfect flexibility, hanging freely between two points of suspension, not in the same vertical line.

Soft leather made of kid skin. Fig.: Used as a symbol of flexibility. [Obs.] Here's wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad. Shak.

ich is inlaid with damaskeening; -- formerly much valued for sword blades, from its great flexibility and tenacity.

Resembling a cord in toughness and flexibility, as the roots of some endogenous trees.

An infusion of pigeon's dung used by tanners to neutralize the effects of lime and give flexibility to skins; -- called also grains and bate.

The quality or state of being inflexible; inflexibility; rigidity; firmness.

Strength; power; firmness; inflexibility; as, to rule with a rod of iron. Bar iron. See Wrought iron (below). -- Bog iron, bog ore; limonite. See Bog ore, under Bog. -- Cast iron (Metal.), an impure variety of iron, containing from three to six percent of carbon, part of which is united with a part of the iron, as a…

The quality or state of being lithe; flexibility; limberness.

The quality or state of being pliable; flexibility; as, pliability of disposition. "Pliability of movement." Sir W. Scott.

of from; the amount of resistance with which a body opposes change of form; -- opposed to flexibility, ductility, malleability, and softness.

The quality or state of being supple; flexibility; pliableness; pliancy.

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.