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brickbat

   Also found in: Acronyms 0.01 sec.
brick·bat  (brkbt)
n.
1. A piece, especially of brick, used as a weapon or missile.
2. An unfavorable remark; a criticism.

[brick + bat, piece of brick.]
Word History: The earliest sense of brickbat, first recorded in 1563, was "a piece of brick." Such pieces of brick have not infrequently been thrown at others in the hope of injuring them; hence, the figurative brickbats (first recorded in 1929) that critics hurl at performances they dislike. The appearance of bat as the second part of this compound is explained by the fact that the word bat, "war club, cudgel," developed in Middle English the sense "chunk, clod, wad," and in the 16th century came to be used specifically for a piece of brick that was unbroken on one end.

brickbat [ˈbrɪkˌbæt]
n
1. (Military / Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) a piece of brick or similar material, esp one used as a weapon
2. blunt criticism the critic threw several brickbats at the singer
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.brickbat - a fragment of brick used as a weapon
fragment - a piece broken off or cut off of something else; "a fragment of rock"
2.brickbat - blunt criticism
criticism, unfavorable judgment - disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings; "the senator received severe criticism from his opponent"
Translations
brickbat [ˈbrɪkbæt] Ntrozo m de ladrillo (fig) → crítica f
brickbat [ˈbrɪkbæt] nviolente critique f
brick-built [ˈbrɪkbɪlt] adjen brique(s)
brickbat [ˈbrɪkˌbæt] npezzo di mattone (fig) → critica
brickbat [ˈbrɪkˌbæt] npezzo di mattone (fig) → critica


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
The nigger kind of smiled around graduly over his face, like when you heave a brickbat in a mud-puddle, and he says:
They carry a rusty old weather-beaten flint-lock gun, with a barrel that is longer than themselves; it has no sights on it, it will not carry farther than a brickbat, and is not half so certain.
George's Fields, the Bank attacked, the Tower threatened, the streets of London flowing with blood, a detachment of the Twelfth Light Dragoons (the hopes of the nation) called up from Northampton to quell the insurgents, and the gallant Captain Frederick Tilney, in the moment of charging at the head of his troop, knocked off his horse by a brickbat from an upper window.
 
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