brickle

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪkəl/
• Rhymes: -ɪkəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English brikel, brekil, brukel (“easily broken or shattered”), from Old English *bryċel, *brucol (as in hūsbryċel (“burglarious”, literally “house-breaking”), scipbrucol (“destructive to shipping, causing shipwreck”, literally “ship-breaking”), equivalent to break +‎ -le. See also breakle.

Adjective

brickle

1. (Appalachia or archaic or dialect) Alternative form of breakle
   • 1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “The Ruines of Time”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC:

     brickle clay

Derived terms

• brickleness

 

Etymology 2

From the Bricklin, a failed automobile.

Verb

brickle (third-person singular simple present brickles, present participle brickling, simple past and past participle brickled)

1. (Canada, dialect) To fail spectacularly.
   • How to Brickle: The New Brunswick Funny Book (1977, →ISBN

Related terms

• brickly

See also

• butter brickle