Briarean 
Briarean (bri-a're-an), a. [< LL. Briareius, 
pertaining to the giant Briareus, < Gr. Bpiapeiif, 
older (Homeric) form Bpidpeuf, < f)piap6f, strong. ] 
Pertaining to or resembling Briareus, a giant 
of Grecian mythology fabled to have a hun- 
dred hands; hence, having or seeming to have 
many hands; reaching or grasping in many 
directions. 
Briareida (bri-a-re'i-de), H. i>l. [NL., < Bria- 
reum + -ida!.~\ A family of alcyonarians, of the 
order Gorgoniacece, having an internal skeleton 
of calcareous spicules, but no horny axis. 
Briareum (brl-a're-um), . [NL., < LL. Bria- 
reius, pertaining to Briareus: see Brio/ream.'} 
The typical genus of alcyonarians of the family 
Briareidee. 
Briaridae (bri-ar'i-de), . pi. Same as Briareidte. 
bribable (bri'ba-bl), a. [< bribe + -able."] Ca- 
pable of being bribed; liable to be bribed: as, 
a bribable class of electors. 
Wendell had designated him by implication as a per- 
son bribed, or bribable. The Nation, Jan. 13, 1870. 
bribaget (bri'baj), . [< bribe + -age.'} Bribery. 
bribe (brib), n. [< ME. bribe, a gift, < OF. bribe, 
a gift, prop., as in ML. briba, Picard brife, a 
piece of bread given to a beggar, = Sp. briba = 
It. birba, vagrancy (cf. OF. briban, also Sp. bri- 
bon, It. birbone, birbante, a vagrant), prob. orig. 
a piece broken off (cf. brick 1 , brick 2 ), < Bret. 
breva = W. briwo, break, perhaps akin to E. 
break, q. v.] If. A gift begged ; a present. 
This sonipnour . . . 
Rod forth to sompne a widew, an old ribibe, 
Feyning a cause, for he wolde han a bribe. 
Chaucer, Friar's Tale, 1. 80. 
2. A gift or gratuity bestowed for the purpose 
of influencing the action or conduct of the 
receiver; especially, money or any valuable 
consideration given or promised for the be- 
trayal of a trust or the corrupt performance of 
an allotted duty, as to a fiduciary agent, a judge, 
legislator, or other public officer, a witness, a 
voter, etc. 
She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe, 
To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., iii. 2. 
He that took the silver basin and ewer for a bribe, 
thinketh that it will never come out. 
Latimer, 2d Serm. bef. Edw. VI., 1550. 
His horse was a bribe, and his boots a bribe ; and told 
us he was made up of bribes, as an Oxford scholar is set 
out with other men's goods, when he goes out of town, 
and that he makes every sort of tradesman to bribe him ; 
and invited me home to his house, to taste of his bribe 
wine. Pepys, Diary, III. 211. 
3. Anything that seduces : as, the bribes offered 
by glory or power. 
bribe (brib), v. ; pret. and pp. bribed, ppr. brib- 
ing. [< ME. briben, only in the sense of ' steal,' 
< OF. briber = Sp. bribar, beg, go about beg- 
ging; from the noun: see bribe, .] I. trans. 
It. To steal. 
For ther is no thef without a louke, 
That helpeth him to wasten and to souke 
Of that he briben can or borwe may. 
Chaucer, Cook's Tale, 1. 53. 
I tribe, I pull, I pyll. Palsgrave. 
Divide me like a brib'd buck, each a haunch. 
Shak., M. W. of W., v. 5 (fol. 1623). 
[Most modern editions read here bribe.] 
2. To give or promise a reward or considera- 
tion to for acting contrary to desire or duty; 
induce to a certain course of action by the gift, 
or offer of something of value ; gain over or 
corrupt by a bribe. 
How pow'rful are chaste vows ! the wind and tide 
You bribed to combat on the English side. Dryden. 
No, sir, take your pitiful present, and know that I am 
not to be bribed to screen your villanies by influence and 
corruption. Sheridan, The Camp, i. 1. 
Bribed with large promises the men who served 
About my person. Tennyson, Geraint. 
II. intrans. If. To steal. 2. To practise 
bribery; give a bribe to a person. 
An attempt to bribe, though unsuccessful, has been 
holden to be criminal, and the defender may be indicted. 
Bouvier. 
bribee (bri-be'), . [< bribe + -eel.] One who 
receives or agrees to receive a bribe. [Bare.] 
bribeless (brib'les), a. [< bribe + -less.] In- 
capable of being bribed; not to be bribed. 
[Bare.] 
Conscience is a most bribeless worker, it never knows 
how to make a false report. 
Bp. Reynolds, On the Passions, p. 534 (Ord MS.). 
bribe-pander (brib'pan // der), n. One who pro- 
cures bribes. Burke. 
briber (bri'ber), n. [In sense 1, < ME. bribour, 
< OF. bribeur, a thief. In sense 2, directly < 
bribe, v., + -erl.~\ 1*. A thief; a robber. 
678 
Who saveth a thefe whan the rope is knet, 
With some false turne the bribour will him quite. 
Lydgate, Trag., 1. 152. 
2. One who bribes ; one who gives or offers a 
bribe ; one who endeavors to influence or cor- 
rupt another by a bribe. 
Nor can I ever believe that he that is a briber shall be 
a good justice. Latimer, 2d Serm. bef. Edw. VI., 1550. 
briberpust (bri'ber-us), a. [< briber + -ous.'] 
Pertaining to bribery. 
bribery (bri'ber-i), . [< ME. briberie, bribrye, 
< OF. briberie, theft, robbery: see bribe and 
-ery.~\ If. Theft; robbery; extortion; rapacity. 
Fy on thee fundlyng, 
Thou lyfes hot bi brybre. 
Towneley Mysteries, p. 194. 
Ye make clean the utter side of the cup and of the plat- 
ter; but within they are full of bribery. 
Geneva Bible, Mat. xxiii. 25. 
2. The act or practice of giving or taking a 
bribe, or of influencing or being influenced by 
a bribe or bribes ; especially, the act of pajdng 
or receiving, or of agreeing to pay or receive, 
a reward other than legal compensation for the 
exercise of official or delegated power irrespec- 
tive of the dictates of duty, or for a false judg- 
ment or testimony, or for the performance of 
that which is known to be illegal or unjust. 
Bribery is a princely kind of thieving. 
Latimer, 3d Serm. bef. Edw. VI., 1549. 
Judicial bribery, the bribing of a judge, magistrate, or 
any person concerned judicially in the administration of 
justice. It is the receiving or offering of any undue reward 
by or to any person whose ordinary profession or business 
relates to the administration of public justice in order 
to influence his behavior in office, and incline him to 
act contrary to the known rules of honesty and integrity. 
Greenleaf. 
bribery-oath (bri'ber-i-6th), w. In Great Brit- 
ain, an oath which may be administered to a 
voter at a parliamentary election, if the poll- 
ing sheriff see cause, certifying that he has 
not received a bribe for his vote. 
bric-a-brac (brik'a-brak), n. [F., of uncer- 
tain origin ; according to Littre, based on the 
phrase de brie et de broc, by hook or by crook : 
OF. de, from; brie, a cage or trap for birds 
(whence the phrase prendre au brie (or brit), 
to take at advantage); et, and; broc, a jug, 
flagon, tankard, pot. According to others, 
a varied reduplication of "brae, < MD. brack- 
goed, damaged goods, waste : see brack 2 . For 
the reduplication, cf. the equiv. E. term knick- 
knacks.] Objects having a certain interest 
or value from their rarity, antiquity, or the 
like, as old furniture, plate, china, and curios- 
ities ; articles of virtu ; ornaments which may 
be pretty or curious, but have no intrinsic claim 
to rank as serious works of art. The term is 
often used with a sense of depreciation. 
Two things only jarred on his eye in his hurried glance 
round the room ; there was too much bric-a-brac, and too 
many flowers. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xxxi. 
brichet (bresh), n. [OF. (ML. brica) : see bri- 
cole.] Same as bricole, 1. 
brichettet (bri-shet'), . A collective name 
for armor for the hips and thighs. Planche. 
brick 1 (brik), n. [E. dial, and Sc., < ME. brike, 
bryke, unassibilated form of "bryche, bruche, < 
AS. brice, bryce, a breach, break, fracture, a 
piece, fragment: see breck and breach, of which 
brick'- is a dial, variant: see also brack 1 . Cf. 
brick 2 ."] 1. A breach. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
2. A rent or flaw. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
3. A portion of land (apparently the same as 
breck. 4). Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
brick 1 (brik), v. t. [E. dial., var. of break; cf. 
brick 1 , .] To break by pulling back. 
brick 2 (brik), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also 
bricke, brique; < ME. bryke, later brigue, after 
OF. brique, a brick, a plate, leaf or wedge of 
metal, mod. F. brique (cf. mod. It. briceo, Ir. 
Gael, brice, < E.), a brick; appar. < MD. (Flem.) 
bricke, brijke, a tile, brick, bricke, a disk, plate, 
= MLG. bricke, a disk, plate, piece in checkers, 
chess, or backgammon, name of a game played 
on ice, = G. bricke, a small board, a round wood- 
en plate, = Sw. bricka, a piece in checkers, etc., 
= ODan. bricke, brikke, Dan. brik, brikke. a wood- 
en plate, a blank (coin), a piece in checkers, 
etc. ; cf. ODan. *brik, partition, in comp. briks- 
dor, the door between the choir and the body of 
a church (dm- = E. door), = Norw. brik (brik), a 
short table or bench near the door or fireplace, a 
bar, railing, low wall or partition of boards, = 
Icel. brik, a low wall or partition of boards, a 
square tablet, a tablet or panel in a bedstead, 
etc. The F. brique, a brick, is usually explained 
as a particular use of OF. and F. dial, brique, a 
brick 
piece, fragment, this being referred to the AS. 
brice, bryce, a piece, fragment (cf. F. dial. 
brique du pain, equiv. to AS. hldfes brice, a 
piece of bread) ; but neither of the two Teut. 
forms, Icel. brik (with long vowel), a tablet, 
etc., MD. brijke (with long vowel), MD. MLG. 
bricke (with short vowel), a brick, tile, plate, 
etc., agrees in sense or form with the AS. brice, 
bryce, a piece, fragment, and its cognates, nor 
can either be brought into connection with the 
primitive verb of the latter (Icel. breka = MD. 
MLG. breken = AS. brecan, E. break), except 
perhaps through the medium of the OF. But 
the sense of ' brick,' which does not belong to 
the AS., G., and Scand. forms, is a derived one ; 
cf . the explanatory synonyms brickstone, brick- 
tile. The MD. and MLG. cognates of the AS. 
brice, bryce (E. breach, dial, brick 1 , breck, q. v.) 
are different: see breach. Cf. MLG. bricke, 
LG. prikke MD. prick, D. prik = late MHG. 
pryecke,prycke, G. bricke, pricke = OD&n. bricke, 
a lamprey; appar. a different word.] I. n. 1. 
A kind of artificial stone made (usually) of 
moistened and finely kneaded clay molded into 
rectangular blocks (the length of which is com- 
monly twice the breadth), and hardened by be- 
ing burned in a kiln, or sometimes, especially 
in warm countries, by being dried in the sun. 
Hun-dried bricks are usually now, as in remote antiquity, 
mixed with chopped straw to give-them greater tenacity. 
(See adobe.) Bricks in the United States and Europe are 
generally red (see brick-clay\ but some clays produce yel- 
lowish bricks, as for example the Milwaukee brick much 
used as an ornamental building material in the United 
States. The bricks made in China and Japan are invaria- 
bly of a slaty-blue color. [Brick is used in the singular 
collectively for bricks in the mass or as a material. ] 
Also, that no chymneys of Tymber be suffred, ne thacch- 
ed houses w*yn the Cyte, but that the owners do hem awey, 
and make them chymneys of Stone or Bryke by mydsomer 
day next comraynge, and tyle the thacched houses by the 
seid day, in peyn of lesynge of a noble. 
Ordinances of Worcester (1467), in Eng. Gilds, p. 386. 
2. A mass or object resembling a brick : as, a 
brick of tea; a silver brick. Specifically 3. 
A loaf of bread. [Prov. Eng.] 4. In her., a 
charge similar to a billet, but depicted so as to 
show the thickness, that is, in perspective. 
Bath brick, a substance used for polishing or cleaning 
metallic utensils, consisting of the fine silicious sand de- 
posited in the river Parret, in Somersetshire, England, 
of which Bath is the capital. This material is made into 
bricks at Bridgewater, and is extensively used in both 
England and America. Blue brick, brick with a blue sur- 
face obtained in burning. They contain iron and lime, are 
exceedingly hard, and highly esteemed for durability. 
Bristol brick, a name by which Bath brick is sometimes 
known in the United States. Carving-brick. Same as 
cutlery-brick. Concave brick, a brick used in making 
arches or curves ; a compass-brick. Dutch bricks, bricks 
of a dirty brimstone -color, used for paving yards, stables, 
etc. Feather-edged brick, a brick of a prismatic form 
used for arches, vaults, etc. Flanders brick, a soft brick 
used for cleaning knives, and for similar purposes. The 
name is little if at all used in the United States. Flemish 
brick, a species of hard yellow brick used for paving. 
Floating bricks, bricks made of light silicious earth 
called fossil meal, capable of floating on water, and also 
remarkable for their infusibility and as non-conductors of 
heat. They were made by the ancients, and the process 
was rediscovered in Italy in 1791. Powder-magazines 
have been experimentally made of them with success. 
Gaged brick, a brick made in the shape of a wedge, to 
conform to the radius of the soffit of an arch. Green 
brick, a brick not yet burned ; unfinished brick. Hol- 
low brick, a brick made with perforations through it for 
heating or ventilating purposes, or to prevent moisture 
from penetrating a wall. Place-brick, common rough 
brick, for walks, cellars, etc. Pressed brick, brick which 
has been pressed in a machine or clamp, and is thus more 
compact and smoother than ordinary brick. It is used for 
fronts and the finest work. Salmon brick, a li^ht, soft 
brick, of inferior quality, and of a light satfron color, due 
to incomplete burning. Stone brick, a very hard kind of 
brick made at Neath, in Wales, much used in the construc- 
tion of furnaces, from its power of resisting heat. To 
have a brick In one's hat, to be intoxicated. [Colloq.] 
-Washed brick, a brick that has been exposed to the 
rain before being burned, and hence of inferior grade. 
II. a. Made of brick ; resembling brick : as, 
a brick wall ; a brick-red color. 
brick 2 (brik), v. t. [< brick 2 , .] 1. To lay or 
pave with bricks, or to surround, close, or wall 
in with bricks. 
A narrow street, closely bricked in on all sides like a 
tomb. Dickfnx. 
2. To build in with bricks ; place in brickwork. 
Brick me into that wall there for a chimney-piece, 
And say I was one o' the Ccesars, done by a seal-cutter. 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, iv. 3. 
3. To give the appearance of brick to: said of 
a plastered wall when it is smeared with red 
ocher and joints are made in it with an edge- 
tool, and then filled with fine plaster to resem- 
ble brickwork. 
brick 3 (brik), n. [The origin is uncertain. Usu- 
ally referred to brick 2 , various stories being in- 
vented in explanation. According to one ac- 
