Brickbat

//ˈbɹɪkbæt// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A piece of brick, rock, etc., especially when used as a weapon (for example, thrown or placed in a sock or other receptacle and used as a club).

    "[S]he sēt [sent] a brick back after him & hit him on þᵉ back, […]"

  2. 2
    blunt criticism wordnet
  3. 3
    A piece of (sharp) criticism or a (highly) uncomplimentary remark. figuratively

    "I beſeech ye friends, ere the brickbats flye, reſolve me and your ſelves, is it blasphemy, or any vvhit diſagreeing from Chriſtian meekneſſe, […] for me to anſvver a ſlovenly vvincer of a confutation, that, if he vvould needs put his foot to ſuch a ſvveaty ſervice, the odour of his Sock vvas like to be neither Musk, nor Benjamin?"

  4. 4
    a fragment of brick used as a weapon wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To attack (someone or something) by swinging or throwing brickbats (noun noun sense 1). transitive

    "We had two boys arrested, both colored, for brick-batting a colored woman in her house. They were sent to the chaingang for 12 months each."

  2. 2
    To assail (someone or something) with (sharp) criticism. figuratively, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

The noun is derived from brick + bat (“a bit, piece; specifically, part of a brick with one whole end”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology 2

The noun is derived from brick + bat (“a bit, piece; specifically, part of a brick with one whole end”). The verb is derived from the noun.

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