brickbat

[brik-bat]

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noun

a piece of broken brick, especially one used as a missile.

any rocklike missile.

an unkind or unfavorable remark; caustic criticism: The critics greeted the play with brickbats.

Nearby words

Origin of brickbat

First recorded in 1555–65; brick + bat¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for brickbat

It was a brickbat “Plug Ugly” fight—the result of animal, and not intellectual or patriotic instincts.
A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital|John Beauchamp Jones
Directly afterwards a brickbat flew past my head, aimed, no doubt, at the more prominent figure of the lieutenant.
Paddy Finn|W. H. G. Kingston
There isn't a mineral in Louisiana, unless it is a brickbat.
Miss Ravenel's conversion from secession to loyalty|J. W. de Forest
Real Christmas weather—that is to say, the earth is as hard as a brickbat, and the wind freezes one to the very marrow.
Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris|Henry Labouchre

And then praise and dispraise became equal unto him; and a brickbat, stone, and gold assumed the same aspect in his eyes.
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 3 Pt. 2|Translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli

British Dictionary definitions for brickbat

brickbat

noun

a piece of brick or similar material, esp one used as a weapon

blunt criticismthe critic threw several brickbats at the singer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brickbat