A brickbat
(noun
sense 1
)
.
The
noun
is derived from
brick
+
bat
(
“
a bit, piece; specifically, part of a brick with one whole end
”
)
.
[1]
The
verb
is derived from the noun.
[2]
brickbat
(
plural
brickbats
)
- 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
).
[
1563
March 30 (Gregorian calendar),
John Foxe
, “George T?kerfield
[
Tankerfield
]
a Faythful Martyr and Witnes of the Gospel, Constantly Suffering for the Testimonie of the Same”, in
Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes,
[
…
]
, London:
[
…
]
Iohn Day
,
[
…
]
,
→OCLC
, book V,
page
1251 [1320]
:
[S]he s?t [sent] a
brick back
after him & hit him on þ
e
back,
[
…
]
]
1687
February,
John Aubrey
, “Lotts”, in James Britten, editor,
Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme
, London:
[
F
]
or
The Folk-lore Society
by W. Satchell, Peyton, and Co.,
[
…
]
, published
1881
,
→OCLC
,
page
91
:
[Y]
e
body of King
Charles the First
was privately putt into the Sand about White-hall; and the coffin that was carried to Windsor and layd in K.
Hen[ry] 8
th's
vault was filled with rubbish, or
brick-batts
.
1897
March 13 ? June 19
,
Richard Marsh
[pseudonym; Richard Bernard Heldmann], “What was Hidden under the Floor”, in
The Beetle
(The Adelphi Library; 4), London:
T
[
homas
]
Fisher Unwin
,
[
…
]
, published
1920
,
→OCLC
, book IV (In Pursuit),
page
275
:
Fragments of glass kept company with the dust on the floor, together with a choice collection of stones,
brickbats
, and other missiles,?which not improbably were the cause of their being there.
1960
,
P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse
, chapter 3, in
Jeeves in the Offing
, Harmondsworth, Middlesex
[
London
]
:
Penguin Books
, published
1963 (1975 printing)
,
→OCLC
,
page
33
:
No doubt he, like me, had been buoying himself up for years with the thought that we should never meet again and that, whatever
brickbats
life might have in store for him, he had at least got Bertram out of his system. A nasty jar it must have been for the poor bloke having me suddenly pop up from a trap like this.
- (
figurative
)
A piece of (
sharp
)
criticism
or a (
highly
)
uncomplimentary
remark
.
- Antonym:
bouquet
1642
April,
John Milton
,
An Apology for Smectymnuus
; republished in
A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton,
[
…
]
, volume I, Amsterdam [actually London:
s.n.
]
,
1698
,
→OCLC
,
page
179
:
I be?eech ye friends, ere the
brickbats
flye, re?olve me and your ?elves, is it blasphemy, or any vvhit di?agreeing from Chri?tian meekne??e,
[
…
]
for me to an?vver a ?lovenly vvincer of a confutation, that, if he vvould needs put his foot to ?uch a ?vveaty ?ervice, the odour of his Sock vvas like to be neither Musk, nor Benjamin?
1843
April, Thomas Carlyle, “The Didactic”, in
Past and Present
, American edition, Boston, Mass.:
Charles C[offin] Little
and
James Brown
, published
1843
,
→OCLC
, book IV (Horoscope),
pages
292?293
:
Not honoured, hardly even envied; only fools and the flunkey-species so much as envy me. I am conspicuous,?as a mark for curses and
brickbats
. What good is it?
2008
June 26, “Manmohan Singh’s burning ambition”, in
The Economist
[1]
, London:
The Economist Group
,
→ISSN
,
→OCLC
, archived from
the original
on
2023-07-25
:
And Mr
[Manmohan] Singh
has little control over this mutinous mix; his party boss,
Sonia Gandhi
, the Italian-born widow of a murdered Congress leader, runs the show. This arrangement has assured Mr Singh many
brickbats
, and little freedom to dodge.
2020
February 7,
Shashi Tharoor
, “Shashi Tharoor’s Word of the Week: Brickbat”, in
Hindustan Times
[2]
, New Delhi:
HT Media
,
→ISSN
,
→OCLC
, archived from
the original
on
2023-05-21
:
A broken bone heals far more quickly and durably than the emotional and psychic injuries inflicted by a savage word, which is where the
brickbat
derives its power. The many libel and defamation suits that litter the courts show that the figurative
brickbat
hurts just as much as, if not more than, the literal one.
piece of brick, rock, etc., especially when used as a weapon
brickbat
(
third-person singular simple present
brickbats
,
present participle
brickbatting
,
simple past and past participle
brickbatted
)
(
transitive
,
dated
except
South Asia
)
- To
attack
(someone or something) by
swinging
or
throwing
brickbats
(noun
sense 1
)
.
1904
, “Crime in Georgia”, in
W[illiam] E[dward] Burghardt Du Bois
, editor,
Some Notes on Negro Crime, Particularly in Georgia
[
…
]
(The Atlanta University Publications; 9), Atlanta, Ga.:
Atlanta University Press
,
→OCLC
,
page
38
:
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.
- (
figurative
)
To
assail
(someone or something) with (
sharp
)
criticism
.
to attack (someone or something) by swinging or throwing brickbats
- Finnish:
heittaa
kivia
- Macedonian:
please add this translation if you can
|
to assail (someone or something) with (sharp) criticism
- ^
“
brickbat,
n.
”, in
OED Online
?
, Oxford, Oxfordshire:
Oxford University Press
, September 2023
;
“
brickbat,
n.
”, in
Lexico
,
Dictionary.com
;
Oxford University Press
,
2019?2022
.
- ^
“
brickbat,
v.
”, in
OED Online
?
, Oxford, Oxfordshire:
Oxford University Press
,
July 2023
.