frailn.1
/freɪl/, U.S. /freɪ(ə)l/ 1. A kind of basket made of rushes, used for packing figs, raisins, etc.; the quantity of raisins, etc. (30 to 75 lbs.) contained in this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > container for food > [noun] > basket > for fruit or vegetables
fraila1382
top1440
tapnet1524
fig-frail1608
flat1640
raisin frail1669
chip basket1758
pottle1771
sievea1800
punnet1822
trug1836
bodge1876
molly1883
handle1900
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > basket > [noun] > made of reeds or rushes
chesta1000
fraila1382
freare1565
hassock1574
flag1640
thrail1694
flag-basket1747
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxiv. 2 One fraiel hadde good figus.
a1400 Coer de L. 1549 Fyggys, raysyns, in frayel.
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. xi. 494 A multitude of reysouns..take, And into russhy frayels rare hem gete.
1483 Cath. Angl. 141/1 A frale [v.r. fraelle] of fygis, palata.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 144v A kind of..sea rishe (whereof the frayles are made that fyges and rasines are carried hether in out of Spayne).
a1640 J. Fletcher et al. Queene of Corinth ii. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bbbbbbv/1 Three Frailes of Sprats..Are as much meat as these.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xviii. 719 In frails of wicker bore the luscious fruit.
1836 Fraser's Mag. 14 286 Sixteen frails of Zante currants.
1880 W. Whiteley Diary & Alman. 82 Frail of figs = 32 to 56 lbs.
Categories »
2. ‘A rush for weaving baskets’ (Johnson 1755).
Compounds
frail basket n.
ΚΠ
1815 A. Constable Let. 27 Jan. in J. Constable Corr. (1962) I. 112 The frail basket in which the turkey is, is your own.
1900 A. Morrison Cunning Murrell i. 9 Over his shoulder he carried a large gingham umbrella..and from its handle hung a frail basket.
frail-bent n.
ΚΠ
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. G.v Spartum herba..may be called in english Frailbente.
frail-rush n.
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. lii. 511 The frayle Rushe or panier Rushe, bycause they use to make figge frayles and paniers therwithall.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
frailn.2
? Obsolete.
Π
1691 W. Petty Treat. Naval Philos. in T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 119 Observations upon loading of a Ship with Lead..Salt, Frail, and Timber.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
frailn.3
/freɪl/, U.S. /freɪ(ə)l/ slang (chiefly U.S.).
A woman.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
1908 H. Green Maison de Shine 50 Aw, the frails is all the same... A guy comes along and shoots that old con about how he's the grandest thing on earth, an' the wisest of 'em fall.
1926 Amer. Speech 1 462/1 The Apollo Theater in London prints the following glossary of slang in its program as a guide to ‘Is Zat So?’ Dame, Frail,..Girl.
1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. xvi. 177 Bullets whistling through the air to..threaten widowhood for the ravished frail.
1945 P. Cheyney I'll say she Does! v. 141 She's a swell dish—a lovely piece of frail.
1970 K. Platt Pushbutton Butterfly (1971) iv. 36 A smaller soggy shape was huddled behind him... An Angel and his frail challenging another night.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
frailadj.
/freɪl/, U.S. /freɪ(ə)l/ 1.
a. Liable to break or be broken; easily crushed or destroyed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adjective] > brittle or fragile
bricklec1225
froughc1275
brisel1303
brocklec1315
brittlea1382
fraila1382
brotelc1384
frangiblec1440
frushing1488
bruckle1513
brash1566
breakable1570
weak1581
glassya1591
brake1600
frushy1610
fragilea1616
kexy1641
brickly1670
cracky1725
fractile1727
frush1802
slattery1829
crackable1862
snappable1866
smashable1884
spaulty1895
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. xiv. 1 An other thinkende to seilen..the tree berende hym, inwardli clepeth a more frele tree.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 177/2 Freyl, and brokulle, or brytylle, fragilis.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Wisd. xv. 13 He yt of earth maketh frayle vessell and ymages, knoweth himself to offende aboue all other.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xcii. 20 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 139 The wicked grow Like fraile, though flowry grasse.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne vi. xlviii. 103 Their armours forged were of mettall fraile.
1713 E. Young Poem on Last Day ii. 27 Thus a frail Model of the Work design'd First takes a Copy of the Builder's Mind.
1812 J. Wilson Isle of Palms ii. 496 In that frail bark the lovers sit.
1879 J. Stainer Music of Bible 82 Their great age renders the wood from which they were made extremely frail.
b. Of immaterial things, sometimes with conscious metaphor: Subject to casualties, liable to be suddenly shattered, transient.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective]
slidinga900
scrithingOE
henwardOE
swifta1225
short livya1325
passing1340
flittingc1374
shadowy1374
temporalc1384
speedfula1400
transitory?c1400
brittlea1425
unabidingc1430
frail?c1450
indurablec1450
scrithel?c1475
caduke1483
transitorious1492
passanta1500
perishinga1500
caducea1513
fugitive?1518
caducal?1548
quick1548
delible1549
flittering1549
undurable?1555
shadowish1561
fleeting1563
vading1566
flightful1571
wanzing1571
transitive1575
slipping1581
diary1583
unlasting1585
never-lasting1588
flit1590
post-like1594
running1598
short-lived1598
short-winded1598
transient1599
unpermanent1607
flashy1609
of a day1612
passable1613
dureless1614
urgenta1616
waxena1616
decayable1617
horary1620
evanid1626
fugitable1628
short-dated1632
fugacious1635
ephemerala1639
impermanent1653
fungous1655
volatile1655
ephemerousa1660
unimmortal1667
timesome1674
while-being1674
of passage1680
journal1685
ephemeron1714
admovent1727
evanescent1728
meteorous1750
deciduous1763
preterient1786
ephemeridal1795
meteorica1802
meteor1803
ephemerean1804
ephemerid1804
evanescing1805
fleeted1810
fleet1812
unenduring1814
unremaining1817
unimmortalized1839
impersistent1849
flighty1850
uneternal1862
caducous1863
diurnal1866
horarious1866
brisk1879
evasive1881
picaresque1959
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 2482 How freele is werldly welefare.
a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. C.ijv It is no new thyng that men gape for hygh and frayle thynges.
1656 A. Cowley Second Olympian Ode in Pindaric Odes vi With a frail good they wisely buy The solid Purchase of Eternity.
1703 N. Rowe Ulysses iv. i. 1523 Grasp thy frail Life, and break it like a Bubble.
1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 291 But when those charms are past, for charms are frail.
1847 J. Martineau Endeavours Christian Life II. iv. 62 A profounder but a frailer bliss.
2.
a. Weak, subject to infirmities; wanting in power, easily overcome.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily constitution > bodily weakness > [adjective]
wokec897
unstronga900
unmightyeOE
feeblec1175
strengthlessc1175
unwieldc1220
weaka1300
frailc1384
unwieldyc1386
unthendec1425
dissolutec1450
unsure?a1475
feyc1475
simple1477
unfirm1483
unsinewed?1541
wash1548
weakling1557
ladylike1566
silly1567
water weak1592
washya1631
wankle1686
foible1715
unmuscular1725
nerveless1792
wankly1795
shilpit1813
wankya1825
sinewless1829
weedy-looking1835
queachy1859
insubstantiala1861
paper-backed1888
weak-fleshed1967
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [adjective] > weak
feeble1340
weakc1400
frail1790
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Rom. viii. 3 That was vnpossible to the lawe, in what thing it was syk, or freel, by fleisch.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) v. lxii. 178 The flesshe..was freell and brotyll of mankynd.
c1450 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi i. xxii. 29 Al þe while þat we bere þis fraiel body, we can not be wiþoute synne.
1545 G. Joye Expos. Daniel (ii.) f. 28v Because the toes were parte yerne and parte bakt erthe, this empyre shalbe partely stronge and partely frayle and weak.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. C2v Wil not my tongue be mute, my fraile ioints shake? View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms xxxix. 4 That I may know how fraile I am. View more context for this quotation
1790 R. Beatson Naval & Mil. Mem. I. 291 The Governor and Council..knowing the frail condition of the place, were greatly alarmed.
1853 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 222 Too weak and frail to be out of bed.
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxv. 18 Lest..these words..Seem too soon from a frail memory fallen away.
b. dialect. (See quot.)[Cf. 1532 for frail-witted adj. at Compounds.]
ΚΠ
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Frail, weak-minded, timid, frightened: as ‘She was born frail, poor lass.’
3. Morally weak; unable to resist temptation; habitually falling into transgression.Now sometimes applied as a half-jocular euphemism, to a woman who lives unchastely or has fallen from virtue.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > [adjective] > inclined to be
sprethc1315
fraila1340
labile1447
fragilea1513
lapsing1667
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adjective] > morally weak
fraila1340
fragilea1513
frailfula1542
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxiv. 8 See how frele I am of kynd.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. iii. 117 Heo is frele of hire Flesch, Fikel of hire tongue.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xxii. 46 In our speech of most holy things, our most fraile affections many times are bewrayed.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 404 Purpos'd not to doom frail Man So strictly. View more context for this quotation
1713 E. Young Force of Relig. i. (1757) 54 Though with ill frail nature will be mov'd, I'll bear it well.
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 250 The leniency of one who felt himself to be but frail.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. vii. 90 Most likely a child of the frail Abbess of Leominster.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > capacity for emotion > sensitiveness or tenderness > [adjective]
softc1175
mild-hearteda1200
moll1386
tender-hearted1539
melch-hearted1552
tenderly1567
feeling1583
frail1590
tender1595
tender-minded1608
sensible1631
high-strung1653
emollid1656
tender-natured1656
sensitive1735
sentimental1749
soulful1837
weak-hearted1841
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. viii. sig. Kk5v That yrkesome sight..smote Deepe indignation and compassion frayle Into his hart.
Compounds
General attributive.
frail-bodied adj.
ΚΠ
1850 T. T. Lynch Memorials Theophilus Trinal xi. 211 Trinal was a frail-bodied man.
frail-floreted adj.
ΚΠ
1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 2 Infinite orchards, wreathing the hills with frail-floretted snow.
frail-lived adj.
ΚΠ
1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 204 Frail-lived April's newliest nurtured blossoms.
frail-strung adj.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 21 The self-same pains Inhabited her frail-strung heart.
frail-witted adj.
ΚΠ
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclviii Freelwitted people supposen in suche poesies to be begyled.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adjective] > morally weak
fraila1340
fragilea1513
frailfula1542
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > [adjective] > inclined to be > very
frailfula1542
a1542 T. Wyatt Psalm xxxviii. 340 in Coll. Poems (1969) I know my frailefull wykednes.
ˈfrailish adj. [+ -ish suffix1] somewhat frail, feeble.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adjective] > somewhat
frailish1854
1854 J. R. Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 209 A rather frailish kind of stuff.
ˈfrailly adv. in a frail manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > [adverb] > inclined
fraillya1300
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adverb] > with moral weakness
fraillya1300
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adverb] > with weakness of character or will
wokelya1000
unwrastlyc1050
unthildilyc1225
fraillya1300
weaklya1616
akratically1913
spinelessly1977
the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > [adverb]
slightly1521
unsoundly1593
flimsily1787
frailly1860
a1300 Cursor Mundi 25689 Man..þat frelli fra þi [God's] frenscep fell.
1630 J. Taylor Whore in Wks. ii. 108/2 King Dauid frailely fell.
1860 Chambers's Jrnl. 14 50 The two garments linked frailly by a half-yard of string.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
frailv.
/freɪl/, U.S. /freɪ(ə)l/ U.S. dialect.
transitive. To beat, thrash.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
to-beatc893
threshOE
bustc1225
to lay on or upon?c1225
berrya1250
to-bunea1250
touchc1330
arrayc1380
byfrapc1380
boxc1390
swinga1400
forbeatc1420
peal?a1425
routa1425
noddlea1450
forslinger1481
wipe1523
trima1529
baste1533
waulk1533
slip1535
peppera1550
bethwack1555
kembc1566
to beat (a person) black and blue1568
beswinge1568
paik1568
trounce1568
canvass1573
swaddle?1577
bebaste1582
besoop1589
bumfeage1589
dry-beat1589
feague1589
lamback1589
clapperclaw1590
thrash1593
belam1595
lam1595
beswaddle1598
bumfeagle1598
belabour1600
tew1600
flesh-baste1611
dust1612
feeze1612
mill1612
verberate1614
bethumpa1616
rebuke1619
bemaul1620
tabor1624
maula1627
batterfang1630
dry-baste1630
lambaste1637
thunder-thump1637
cullis1639
dry-banga1640
nuddle1640
sauce1651
feak1652
cotton1654
fustigate1656
brush1665
squab1668
raddle1677
to tan (a person's) hide1679
slam1691
bebump1694
to give (a person) his load1694
fag1699
towel1705
to kick a person's butt1741
fum1790
devel1807
bray1808
to beat (also scare, etc.) someone's daylights out1813
mug1818
to knock (a person) into the middle of next week1821
welt1823
hidea1825
slate1825
targe1825
wallop1825
pounce1827
to lay into1838
flake1841
muzzle1843
paste1846
looder1850
frail1851
snake1859
fettle1863
to do over1866
jacket1875
to knock seven kinds of —— out of (a person)1877
to take apart1880
splatter1881
to beat (knock, etc.) the tar out of1884
to —— the shit out of (a person or thing)1886
to do up1887
to —— (the) hell out of1887
to beat — bells out of a person1890
soak1892
to punch out1893
stoush1893
to work over1903
to beat up1907
to punch up1907
cream1929
shellac1930
to —— the bejesus out of (a person or thing)1931
duff1943
clobber1944
to fill in1948
to bash up1954
to —— seven shades of —— out of (a person or thing)1976
to —— seven shades out of (a person or thing)1983
beast1990
becurry-
fan-
1851 M. L. Byrn Arkansaw Doctor 82 The old man plainly told her..he would frail her worse than a dog would a pole-cat.
1890 J. C. Harris in Cent. Mag. Dec. 287/1 He uped an' frailed me out, an' got the gal to boot.
1901 W. Churchill Crisis i. xii. 97 Reckon I'd frail 'em good ef he catched hold of me with his black hands.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xi. 229 I'll frail the tar out of you.
Derivatives
ˈfrailing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > [noun] > specific object a person
threshingOE
sousingc1580
rib-roast1595
basting1599
swingeing1603
cuffing1610
lamming1611
rib-roasting1613
mauling1621
pinking1637
drubbing1650
diverberation1651
verberation1661
trimming1675
rib1699
thrashing1720
dousing1721
fagging1746
bumping1751
dusting1799
clapperclawing1806
milling1806
hiding1809
punishment1811
doing1814
bethumping1831
mugging1846
jacketing1850
frailing1851
pasting1851
towelling1851
tanning1863
fum-fum1885
ribbing1894
paddywhack1898
tanking1905
beating-up1915
shellacking1931
sloshing1931
clobbering1948
twatting1963
duffing-up1967
1851 M. L. Byrn Arkansaw Doctor 123 He..did not like the thought of getting a frailing for it.
1896 Peterson Mag. Jan. 89/2 A frailing with a dead branch left him [sc. a mule] unmoved.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1a1382
n.21691
n.31908
adj.a1300v.1851- beat up
- beat up for
- beat up for recruits
- beat up on
- beat up quarters
- beat up recruits
- beat up the quarters of
- beat up the town for recruits
- beat upon a walk
- beat upon the hand
- beat upon the hoof
- beat with the spit
- beat — bells out of
- beat'emest
- beat-axe
- beat-borough
- beat-box
- beat-down
- beat-field
- beat-frequency oscillator
- beat-hill
- beat-match
- beat-matching
- beat-pin
- beat-rhythm