brittlen.
/ˈbrɪtl/, U.S. /ˈbrɪd(ə)l/ Originally U.S.
A type of toffee having a crisp, brittle texture and typically made with nuts, esp. peanuts. Frequently with modifying word (see also peanut brittle n. at peanut n. and adj. Compounds 2).
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > toffee
taffy1817
Everton toffee1822
toffeea1825
hardbake1825
stickjaw1827
tom trot1829
tameletjie1838
butterscotch1847
peanut candy1856
caramel1884
treacle toffee1885
Harrogate toffee1890
brittle1892
peanut brittle1892
saltwater taffy1894
brickle1907
spin1913
hokey-pokey1939
1892 Los Angeles Times 2 Oct. 16/2 We are going to introduce a new line of peanut brittle..from which we expect large sales.
1930 Chicago Sunday Tribune 13 Apr. i. 7 (advt.) Almond brittle, creme de menthe, caramels, fruit puddings, etc.
1972 Times 25 Mar. 11/1 Nougatines could be briskly summed up as peanut brittle.
1990 B. Neal Biscuits, Spoonbread, & Sweet Potato Pie vii. 136 Southern cooks make three types of brittle—peanut, benne, and pecan.
2003 Sunset Dec. 70/2 Feel free to vary the nuts and spices in this basic brittle recipe.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
brittleadj.
/ˈbrɪtl/, U.S. /ˈbrɪd(ə)l/α. Middle English bretil, Middle English bretyl, Middle English britil, Middle English britul, Middle English brityl, Middle English brytylle, Middle English–1500s bretell, Middle English–1500s bretle, Middle English–1500s bretyll, Middle English–1500s britel, Middle English–1500s brytell, Middle English–1500s bryttel, Middle English–1500s bryttyll, late Middle English brittyll, 1500s brittell, 1500s brittil, 1500s brittile, 1500s brytel, 1500s brytil, 1500s brytle, 1500s bryttell, 1500s bryttle, 1500s bryttyl, 1500s–1600s britle, 1500s–1600s brittel, 1500s– brittle; N.E.D. (1888) also records forms late Middle English bretylle, late Middle English brityll, late Middle English bryttyl.
β. Middle English brethel, Middle English brethil, Middle English briȝel, Middle English brythel, Middle English brythyll.
1.
a. Hard but liable to break easily; fragile, breakable; †friable (obsolete).
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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.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. vi. 22 Þe bretyl vessel for soþe in þe wheche hit [sc. the flesh] is soden.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 398/1 With betle browes & his britle spectacles of pride and malice.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. xciv. 274 The wilde Comyn..hath a brittle stalke.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 33 Some are fragile or brittle..as Bones.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (1681) iv. 35 A brittle soil..Is best for Corn.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 213 To toughen his Nails that were brittle.
1787 J. F. Bryant Verses 33 Rude mass of earth, from which with moiled hands..the brittle tubes [sc. of pipe-clay] I form.
1831 H. C. Backhouse Jrnl. 13 Dec. in Jrnl. & Lett. (1858) viii. 128 The flesh becomes so brittle that it may be broken off without sensation.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 159 The ice being brittle, cracks and snaps.
1904 Collier's 7 May 21/3 (advt.) My hair was dry and brittle and falling out in an alarming manner.
1932 E. Waugh Black Mischief v. 161 A few waste shreds of paper, baked crisp and brittle as dead leaves.
2005 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Oct. a16/4 A ‘promatorium’ is a building where the dead body of your loved one will be frozen, submerged in liquid nitrogen until brittle and then shattered.
b. Chiefly Metallurgy. Of the fracture of a material: occurring without plastic deformation due to a lack of ductility; an instance of this.notch-, temper-brittle: see first word.
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1914 W. Rosenhain Introd. Study Physical Metall. p. xiv Brittle fracture of ductile metals at high temperatures.
1940 Proc. Physical Soc. 52 6 It also omits all consideration of the mechanism of rupture, including brittle fracture.
1981 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 299 9 Virtually the whole of the fracture was brittle, with typical chevron markings.
1994 Equinox Spring 18/1 Researchers are advancing another theory: that the Titanic experienced what is known as brittle fracture.
2. figurative. Inconstant, fickle; untrustworthy; unreliable. Now rare.
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the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective]
unfastc888
unstathelfasteOE
unsteadfasta1200
fleeting?c1225
changeablea1275
ficklea1275
unstablec1290
waveringc1315
flickerc1325
loose in the haftc1325
motleyc1380
unsadc1384
variablea1387
variantc1386
ticklec1400
inconstant1402
flitting1413
brittle1420
plianta1425
mutablec1425
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
moonishc1450
unconstant1483
unfirm1483
varying?a1500
pliablea1513
fluctuant1575
changeling1577
shittle-headed1580
cheverel1583
off and on1583
chameleon-like1589
changeful1590
limber1602
unsteady1604
ticklish1606
skittish1609
startling1619
labile1623
uncertaina1625
cheverelized1625
remuant1625
fluctuate1631
fluctuary1632
various1636
contrarious1643
epileptical1646
fluxilea1654
shittle-braineda1655
multivolent1656
totter-headed1662
on and off1668
self-inconsistent1678
weathercocka1680
whifflinga1680
versatile1682
veering1684
fast and loose1697
inconsistent1709
insteadfast1728
unfixing1810
unsteadied1814
chameleonic1821
labefact1874
ballastless1884
weathercocky1886
whiffle-minded1902
1420 in C. L. Kingsford Stonor Lett. & Papers (1919) I. 32 (MED) Reson wolde that þay were had aredy, for drede of changyng of þe world þat is bretell.
1521 in State Papers Henry VIII (1830) I. 73 Such brittle people as they [sc. the Irish] bee, in whome is moche crafte, and litle or noo faithe.
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature ii. sig. Avv Hys bryttle nature, hys slyppernesse to waye.
1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. F4v Hot desires turne oftentimes to colde disdaine: Loue is brittle, where appetite, not reason beares the sway.
1622 T. Scott Belgicke Pismire 15 Never did Age so abound with such brittle spirits as this.
1650 A. Cowley Guardian iii. ix. sig. Dv/1 That's A false as you, perhaps; but 'tis not half So brittle. Dares your husband trust me alone With you so long?
1721 T. D'Urfey Grecian Heroine v. i, in New Opera's 143 His Coronation Oath, Cement of Royalty, (Which when a King once breaks, the Subjects Faith May well be brittle too) he kept inviolable.
1781 H. Croft Young in S. Johnson Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets X. 97 The brittle chain of worldly friendship and patronage is broken as effectually, when one goes beyond the length of it, as when the other does.
1820 W. Scott tr. Noble Moringer in Edinb. Ann. Reg. 1816 9 ii. p. ccccxcvi Woman's faith's a brittle trust—Seven twelvemonths did'st thou say? I'll pledge me for no Lady's truth beyond the seventh fair day.
a1887 E. R. Sill Poet. Wks. (1906) 19 Friendships truer than all woman's brittle passion.
1908 F. Morton Laughter & Tears 122 Pity that your faith's so brittle, Madge Malone!
2006 North Bay (Ont.) Nugget (Nexis) 23 Jan. a3 The creaky campaign platforms and brittle promises we've heard these past eight weeks.
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
a1425 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. (1871) II. 258 Þei traveilen..to take britul crowne here, but men traveilen in Goddis cause to take a crown þat never may faile.
1509 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. i. 176 These brytell bodyes of ours.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) f. 126v Of two britle goods, ritches and beautie, I had rather chuse that which might delight mee, then destroye mee.
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Sea Voy. ii. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaaaa4/2 No Goddesse, friend: but made Of that same brittle mould as you are.
1692 C. Gildon Post-boy rob'd of his Mail I. l. 157 Thou couldst not laugh else whilst Death was besieging thy brittle Carcass on every side with the irresistible Artillery of a thousand Accidents.
a1719 J. Addison Scating (1720) 13 Now to the faithful Sea, the Matron dares Her self commit, and trust her brittle Wares.
1777 W. Jones Seven Fountains 55 How dim the rays that gild the brittle earth.
4. figurative. Frail, weak; insecure, unstable; †transitory (obsolete). Later also: manifesting signs of instability or nervousness, esp. despite an outward show of cheerfulness or decisiveness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
a1450–1500 ( Libel Eng. Policy (1926) l. 580 (MED) Wee be frayle..And also bretyll, not tough, nevere abydynge.
c1450 Cato's Distichs (Sidney Sussex) l. 127 in Englische Studien (1906) 36 12 (MED) Seþe bretle and vncertain life Is ȝouen bothe to man and wife.
1545 G. Joye Expos. Daniel (iv.) f. 50 How frayle and brytle is securite & welthenes to mortall men.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. B Brittle beautie, that nature made so fraile, Wherof the gift is small, and short the season, Flowring to day, to morowe apt to faile.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Henry VI. xviii. 4 To shew by patarne of a prince, how brittle honour is.
a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 202 Easy for the King to overthrow this brittle and frail clergy.
a1640 W. Fenner Contin. Christ's Alarm (1657) 25 Consider how brittle your hearts are.
1692 J. Dryden Eleonora 12 A second Eve..As beauteous, not as brittle as the first.
1727 W. Pattison Poet. Wks. I. 123 But think, how brittle are those Charms you boast, And think, how soon that Beauty may be lost.
1799 R. B. Sheridan Pizarro iii. iii The brittle tribute of his praise.
1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. ix. 173 Ere the green beauty of their brittle youth Grows brown, and toughens in the summer sun.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India I. iii. iv. 615 The brittle materials of an Indian army.
1849 C. Brontë Shirley III. v. 140 Some fine slight fingers have a wondrous knack at pulverizing a man's brittle pride.
1858 R. B. Brough Siege of Troy vii. 43 Achilles, thou hast knock'd me off life's hook. The loss of brittle life I better brook Than those proud titles thou hast won of me.
1943 D. Whipple They were Sisters xiii. 174 He so constantly chivvied her to be cheerful that she began to cultivate a brittle liveliness in self-protection.
1976 P. de Vries I hear Amer. Swinging iii. 47 The brittle dialogue snapped and crackled like a brush fire.
2003 Guardian 26 Apr. (Guide Suppl.) 98/1 One of their ‘news’ presenters, a somewhat alien-looking, bitchy, brittle LA blonde.
5. Medicine. Of diabetes or asthma: unstable; producing sudden fluctuations in symptoms or signs. Also: (of a person) affected with such a disease.
ΚΠ
1948 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 4 355/2 In Case 2, the urinary tract infection complicated a rather ‘brittle’ case of diabetes mellitus.
1967 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 4 Oct. 18/1 The juvenile diabetic is frequently a ‘brittle’ diabetic.
1984 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 9 June 1715 (heading) Subcutaneous terbutaline and control of brittle asthma.
1990 Lancet 8 Dec. 1443/1 Her asthma was ‘brittle’ with 20 hospital admissions in the preceding 12 months.
1996 Here's Health Oct. 48/2 ‘I'm told I have “brittle asthma”, which is unpredictable and variable,’ says Chloe, and therefore difficult to control.
2000 J. K. Davidson Clin. Diabetes Mellitus (ed. 3) 362/2 Those with so-called ‘unstable’, ‘labile’ or ‘brittle’ diabetes, have no beta cell insulinogenic reserve.
Compounds
C1. Parasynthetic.
brittle-minded adj.
ΚΠ
1887 W. James Let. 2 July in R. B. Perry Thought & Char. W. James (1935) I. 376 My narrow and brittle-minded bachelor state.
1955 Far Eastern Surv. 24 111 The characters range from a varied assortment of diplomatic hands, through vociferous but brittle minded intellectuals..and Communists on all sides.
2000 Nation (N.Y.) 31 Jan. 11 This new movement can excavate the human spirit, buried by a generation of arrogant power and a brittle-minded economic orthodoxy.
C2.
brittle asthma n. : see sense 5.
brittle bone disease n. Medicine any of several disorders characterized by increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture; spec. osteogenesis imperfecta.
ΚΠ
1934 Chicago Tribune 12 Sept. 18/3 Indiana man dies at 46 of rare brittle bone disease... Multiple myeloma..causes the bones to become brittle and incur spontaneous fractures.]
1960 Trans. Amer. Laryngol., Rhinol. & Otol. Soc. 536 Brittle Bone disease, known by many synonyms..is characterized by the occurrence of multiple fractures with poor healing.
1988 G. Palmer Politics of Breastfeeding iii. 73 There may be an inverse link between osteoporosis, the brittle bone disease that is the curse of ageing western women, and breastfeeding.
2003 Daily Tel. 21 May 18/8 A severe form of osteogenesis imperfecta, a brittle bone disease. This means that her bones are 90 per cent less dense than average.
brittlebush n. any of several plants of the genus Encelia (family Asteraceae ( Compositae)), comprising low-growing, drought tolerant shrubs of arid areas of southern America and Mexico; now esp. E. farinosa, which has silvery foliage and bright yellow flowers.
ΚΠ
1908 W. T. Hornaday Camp-fires on Desert 182 The White Brittle-bush, as seen standing alone on bare black lava, is truly a thing of beauty.
1953 Redlands (Calif.) Daily Facts 12 Mar. 5/3 Encelia or brittle bush also is coming into bloom in the valley edges.
1998 Science 26 June 2048/2 This spring..the Tucsons' volcanic soil..erupted in wildflowers, from golden poppies to velvet-red ocotillo and the sunflower blooms of brittlebush.
brittle heart n. (a condition of) timber that is characterized by abnormal brittleness and low strength, esp. in the heartwood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [noun] > brittle heart
brittle heart1934
1934 Dadswell & Langlands in Jrnl. Council Sci. & Ind. Res., Australia 7 190 (heading) Brittle heart in Australian timbers.
1973 Materials & Technol. VI. 27 As its name implies, the wood of brittleheart is low in strength properties and density, and particularly in resistance to impact.
2002 Hobart Mercury (Austral.) (Nexis) 30 Aug. All sawn eucalypt boards must be free of brittle heart, branch knots and sapwood.
brittle silver ore n. [after German Sprödglaserz, lit. ‘brittle glass ore’ (1791 in the passage translated in quot. 1809; < spröde brittle (see spreth adj.) + Glaserz (see glass-ore n. at glass n.1 Compounds 3); with the second element compare also Silberglas : see silver glass n. at silver n. and adj. Compounds 2a)] the mineral stephanite.Chemical formula: Ag5SbS4.
ΚΠ
1809 C. Anderson tr. A. G. Werner New Theory Formation Veins x. 215 The three ores of silver, viz brittle silver ore [Ger. Sprödglaserz], red silver ore, white silver ore.
1876 Butte (Montana) Miner 14 Nov. Stephanite, or brittle silver ore, is a compound of silver, antimony and sulphur.
1981 Jrnl. Egyptian Archaeol. 67 105 The ‘dry’ silver ores such as argentite, cerargyrite.., stephanite (Ag5SbS4; brittle silver ore).
brittlewort n. Botany †(a) (J. Lindley's name for) a diatom (obsolete); (b) a stonewort (order Charales).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > diatom(s)
diatom1845
brittlewort1846
diatomean1853
1846 J. Lindley Veg. Kingdom 12 Order I. Diatomaceæ. Brittleworts... Diagnosis.—Crystalline, angular, fragmentary bodies, brittle, and multiplying by spontaneous generation.
1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes from Nature 170 The diatoms or brittle-worts..form a wonderful microcosm.
1970 Jrnl. Cell Biol. 45 566/1 The internodal cells of the brittlewort Nitella translucens, separated by a single nodal cell, have been demonstrated to be coupled.
1996 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 83 125/1 Commonly known as stoneworts or brittleworts, the Charales flourish in fresh and brackish water habitats worldwide.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
brittlev.1
/ˈbrɪtl/, U.S. /ˈbrɪd(ə)l/ Now historical.
transitive. To cut into pieces; (Hunting) to cut up (a deer or boar).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of meat > dress animals for food [verb (transitive)] > cut up deer
brittlea1300
attirec1330
breakc1330
brittenc1400
a1300 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 92 Seynt Thomas wes biscop, and barunes him quolde, Heo brutlede him ful breoly.
a1650 Boy & Mantle in F. J. Child Coll. Ballads (1861) I. 15 He britled the bores head Wonderous weele.
1847 C. Kingsley Outlaw in Poems (1889) 235 And when I'm taen and hangit, mither, a brittling o' my deer, Ye'll no leave your bairn to the corbie craws, to dangle in the air.
1865 S. Evans Brother Fabian's MSS 58 The bravest man That ever brittled a deer.
1884 Boy's Own Paper 12 Apr. 444/3 The antelope I had killed was as big as a calf,..We set to work then to brittle it,..we cut it into three pieces.
1931 E. Linklater Ben Jonson & King James xiv. 164 While the King brittled his deer, scholars by his command worked diligently..to make one true and lasting Bible.
1972 ELH 39 335 Not only is the hunter skillful in stalking, but also in brittling the deer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
brittlev.2
/ˈbrɪtl/, U.S. /ˈbrɪd(ə)l/ rare.
transitive. To make brittle; †to make friable (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > weakness > make weak [verb (transitive)] > make brittle
brittle1743
embrittle1902
1743 Sel. Trans. Soc. Improvers Knowl. Agric. Scotl. 109 (Jam.) The clay..which will be brittled by the winter frosts.
1898 Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) 4 Oct. 2/5 Hardtack had less taste than air, water, sponge or cork. They designated it as solidified nothing brittled in a desert sun.
1941 M. Van Doren Mayfield Deer iv. 70 Shivers of fearful joy brittled her voice.
2007 Phillipine Daily Inquirer (Nexis) 6 Aug. Of late, the weeds have been brittled by the sun but..they will be back soon.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1892
adj.a1382v.1a1300
v.21743