brickbat

[ brik-bat ]

/ ˈbrɪkˌbæt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR brickbat ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Words nearby brickbat

brick, brick cheese, brick red, brick veneer, brick-and-mortar, brickbat, brickearth, bricker operation, brickfield, brickie, bricking

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

/ (ˈbrɪkˌbæt) /

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

brickbat

noun

Words related to brickbat

Words nearby brickbat

Origin of brickbat

Examples from the Web for brickbat

British Dictionary definitions for brickbat

noun