brick 
count, the expression arose in the English uni- 
versities as a humorous translation of Aris- 
totle's TCT/Myuvof uvi/p, a perfect (lit. 'square' 
or rectangular) man: see tetragon and square.} 
A good fellow, in an emphatic sense: a term of 
admiration bestowed on one who on occasion 
or habitually shows in a modest way groat or 
unexpected courage, kindness, or thoughtful- 
ness, or other admirable qualities. [G'olloq.] 
"In brief I ili.ll t Mirk to tlrrhuv Kilthfl l)ifk, 
So they riilh'tl him for whorl, wiw a regular brick; 
A metaphor taken, I have not the page aright, 
Out of an ethical work liy tin- stayyrite." 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, Brothers of Blrchington. 
School-fellows of Heriot's Hospital, like bricks of boys, 
supplied him with food for six weeks. 
The Century, XXVH. 331. 
brick-ax (brik'aks), n. A two-edged ax used 
in shaping bricks. 
brick-barrow (brik'bar'6), n. In brickmaking, 
a wheelbarrow used for carrying bricks, dif- 
fering from the ordinary form in having the 
wheel in the middle, the bricks being piled 
upon slats running lengthwise at each side. 
brickbat (brik'bat), n. A piece or fragment of 
a brick ; especially, a piece of a brick used as 
a missile. See bat 1 , 8 Brickbat cheese, fee 
cheese^. 
brickbat (brik'bat), r. t.; pret. and pp. brii-l.- 
batted, ppr. brickbatting. To assail with pieces 
of brick: as, the mob brickbatted the police. 
brick-built (brik'bilt), a. Built with brick : as, 
"the brick-built town," Dryden. 
brick-clamp (brik'klamp), n. A stack of bricks 
in order for burning. E. H. Knight, 
brick-clay (brik'kla), n. Clay used or suitable 
for making bricks and tiles : a tolerably pure 
silicate of alumina, combined with various pro- 
portions of sand, and with not more than 2 per 
cent, of lime and other alkaline earths. The 
red color of common bricks depends on the 
presence of a little iron peroxid. 
brick-dust (brik'dust), n. Dust from disinte- 
grated bricks ; specifically, the dust of pounded 
Bath brick (which see, under brick 2 , n.), or the 
earth from which Bath brick is made. 
brick-earth (brik'erth), H. Any kind of ma- 
terial which is suitable for making bricks, or 
which, with or without the addition of other 
materials, can be used for that purpose, in and 
near London the alluvial deposits resting upon the Lon- 
don clay are known as brick-earth, and they may be de- 
scribed as being a sandy loam, passing by fine gradations 
into clay or marl. Near London that kind of earth which 
without any addition makes the best kind of brick is 
called by the brickmakers mulM ; it is a clayey material, 
containing a considerable quantity of chalk in fine parti- 
cles. In the United States the material used for making 
bricks is almost always called brick-clay, or simply clay. 
The collection of Sir Antonio Brady contains portions 
of no fewer than a hundred elephants, all collected from 
the brick-earth of Ilford. llwaey, Physiography, p. 284. 
bricken 1 (brik'n). v. t. [Appar. < bricW- + 
-en 1 .] To hold (toe head) up and back ; bridle. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
bricken 2 (brik'n), a. [< brick* + -e2.] Made 
of brick. [Prov. Eng.] 
brick-field (brik'feld), n. A field or yard where 
bricks are made. 
brickfielder (brik'fel'dfer), n. [Appar. in allu- 
sion to the heat of a brick-field.] A hot north 
wind prevalent in southern Australia. [Local 
slang.] 
bricking (brik'ing), H. [< brick? + -in;/ 1 .] 1. 
Brickwork. 2. An imitation of brickwork 
made on a plastered surface. 
brick-kiln (brik'kil), M. A kiln or furnace in 
which bricks are baked or burned ; also, a pile 
of bricks for burning, laid loose, with arches 
underneath to receive the fuel. 
bricklayer (brik'la"er), n. One whose occu- 
pation is to build with bricks Bricklayers' Itch, 
a species of eczema produced on the hands of bricklayers 
by the contact of lime. 
bricklaying (brik'la'ing), n. The art of build- 
ing with bricks, or of uniting them by cement 
or mortar in various forms; the art or occupa- 
tion of laying bricks. 
brickie (b'rik'l), n. [Early mod. E. also brikle, 
and dial, brockle, bruckle ; < ME. brekil, brukcl, 
brokel, also brucltel, So. brokyll, brukyl, etc., 
appar. < AS. *brecol, "brycel (= MD. brokel = 
MLG. brokel; cf. D. brokkelig, G. brocklig), with 
suffix -ol, -el, forming adjectives from verbs, 
< brecan (pp. brocen), break: see break. Now 
superseded by the equiv. but etymologically 
ditt. brittle, q. v.] Brittle ; easily broken. 
[Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
But th' Altare, or. the which this Image staid, 
Wa, O great pity ! built of brickie clay. 
Spenser, Euines of Time, 1. 499. 
679 
The purest glaase U the most brickie, . . . and the quick- 
est wit the more easily wooiic to folly. 
(jrrene, Repentance, To the Reader. 
brickleness (brik'1-nes), n. Brittleness. [Ob- 
solete or prov. Eng.] 
bricklow (brik'16), n. f Appar. of native ori- 
gin.] A species of acacia, native in Australia. 
brick-machine (brik'ma-shen'), n. An appa- 
ratus for molding bricks, .some brick-in^ 
use wet clay from a pug-mill, others dry clay. In the for- 
mer the elay is discharged from the pun-mill in a solid 
stream, which is cut by the brick-machine into brick- 
shaped pieces ; in the latter the dry clay is delivered to 
molds placed on a horizontal revolving table, while pis- 
tons press the elay int.. them, and then eject the molded 
brick. Also called brick-preu. 
brickmaker (brik'ma'ker), n. One who makes 
bricks, or whose occupation is to make bricks. 
brickmaking (brik'ma''king), n. The art of 
making bricks. 
brick-mason (brik'ma'sn), . A bricklayer. 
bricknog (brik'nog), a. Composed of timber 
framing filled in with brickwork : as, a bricknog 
partition. 
bricknogging (brik'nog-ing), n. Brickwork car- 
ried up as a filling in timber framing. 
brick-press (brik'pres), n. Same as brick-ma- 
C/liHI . 
brickstone (brik'ston), n. A brick. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
brick-tea (brik'te), n. A kind of tea formed by 
softening the larger leaves and refuse twigs and 
dust of the tea-plant with steam or boiling 
water and molding them into a brick-shaped 
mass. In this form it is extensively sent overland from 
China to Russia. It is consumed largely in Siberia and 
Mongolia, where it serves also as a medium of exchange. 
brick-tile (brik'til), n. A brick. [Prov. Eng.] 
brick-trimmer (brik'trim'er), n. In arch., a 
brick arch abutting against the wooden trimmer 
in front of a fireplace, as a safeguard against fire. 
brickwallt, n. [An accom. form of bricoil, bri- 
cole.] Same as bricole, 3. 
brickwise (brik'wis), a. and adv. Arranged like 
bricks in a wall ; with the ends in each row over 
the middle parts of the row below. 
brickwork (brik'werk), n. Work done or con- 
structed with bricks ; bricklayers' work. 
bricky (brik'i), a. [< brick* + -y 1 .] 1. Full of 
bricks, or formed of brick. 2. Of the color of 
common brick: as, a bricky red. 
brick-yard (brik'yard), n. A place where 
bricks are made. 
bricoilt, Same as bricole, 3. 
bricole (bri-kol'), n. [In sense 3, also formerly 
brickol, bricoil, and by popular etym. brickwall; 
< F. bricole, also bricolle, mod. F. bricole, back- 
stroke, toils, breast-band, strap, = It. briccola = 
8p. brigola (ML. bricola; cf. ML. brica, OF. 
briche), a catapult, perhaps < MHG. brechel, a 
breaker, < brecnen = E. break."] If. A military 
engine for throwing darts or quarrels ; a kind 
of catapult. Also&ricAe. 2. Harness worn by 
men wno have loads to carry or to drag. 3t. 
A side-stroke at tennis. 
brid 1 t, n. An obsolete form of bird 1 . 
brid' 2 t, n. An obsolete form of bride. 
bridal (bri'dal), n. and o. [Formerly also 
bridall; prop^ as in early mod. E., bridale, 
bride-ale, < ME. bridale. brudale, < AS. brydealo 
(also bryd-caloth, flat.), bridal, lit. bride-ale, 
1. e., bride-feast, < bryd, bride, + ealo (gen. 
and dat. ealoth), ale, in comp. a feast: see ale. 
Cf. church-ale, clerk-ale, etc. In mod. use the 
terminal element has been assimilated to the 
suffix -al, and the word accordingly used also 
as an adj., like nuptial, etc.] I. n. If. A feast 
at a marriage ; a wedding-feast. 
We see no ensigns of a wedding here ; no character of 
a bride-ale: where be our scarves and our gloves? 
B. Jotuon, Kpica-ne, 111. 2. 
2. A marriage ; nuptials. 
Did her honor as the Prince's bride, 
And clothed her for her bridal* like the sun. 
Tennywn, Oeraint. 
Sweet day. so cool, so calm, so bright, 
The bridal of the earth and sky. 
O. Herbert, Virtue. 
U. a. Belonging to a bride or to a wedding: 
as, a bridal wreath. 
Come, I will bring thee to thy bridal chamber. 
Shak., T. of the S., Iv. 1. 
bridaltyt (bri'dal-ti), n. [< bridal + -y.] Cele- 
bration of a nuptial feast. 
At Quintain he, 
In honour of this bridaltee, 
Hath challenged either wide countee. 
B. Joiwon, Love's Welcome at Welbeck. 
bridal-wreath (bri'dal-reth), n. 1. The com- 
mon name of :i cultivated species of Spiraa, 
bridegroom 
,S. hyprririfiiliii, with long recurved branches 
and numerous small white double flowers in the 
axils of the leaves. 2. The t'runcoa rarnosu, 
a somewhat shrubby saxifragaceous plant of 
Chili, with long crowded racemes of white 
flowers. It is cultivated in England. 
bride 1 (bri.l), H. [< ME. bride, bryde, bnule, 
nom. prop, without the final e, brid, bryd, brud, 
often transposed bird, btird, etc. (gee birtft), a 
bride, a young lady, < AS. bryd, a bride, = OS. 
brud = OFries. breid = MD. brud, D. bruid = 
MLG. brut, LG. brud = OHG. MHG. britt, G. 
hrniil, bride (i. e., betrothed woman), = Icel. 
briidlir = Sw. Dan. liruil, a bride, = Goth, bruths, 
daughter-in-law (> ult. F. bru, earlier brvy, 
"brut, ML. brut, brttta, daughter-in-law), cf. 
comp. bruth-faths, bridegroom (see bridegroom) ; 
root unknown.] 1. A woman newly married, 
or about to be married. 
lie, only he, can tell, who, match'd like me, . . . 
Has by his own experience tried, 
How much the wife l dearer than the bride. 
Lord Lyttelton, An Irregular Ode. 
2. A name of the American wood or summer 
duck, Aix xponsa. Coues. 
brideif (brid), v. [< bridei, n.] I. trans. To 
make a bride of ; marry. [Rare.] 
I knew a man 
Of eighty winters, this I told them, who 
A lass of fourteen brided. 
Fletcher (and another). Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 2, 
H. intniiiK. (with indefinite it). To act like 
a bride ; assume the air of a bride. 
Maidens commonly now a dayes are no sooner borne, 
but they beginne to brute U. 
Lilly, Euphues, Anat. of Wit, p. 83. 
bride 2 (brid), n. [< ME. bride, a bridle, < OF. 
F. bride, a bridle, string, strap, button-loop, 
etc., = Pr. Sp. Pg. brida, a bridle: see bridle.] 
If. A bridle. 
Theo lady . . . syngeth of Dydo and Enyas, 
How love heom ladue by strong bride. 
King A I im under, 1. 7025. 
2. Iii needlework, lacemaking, etc., a loop, link, 
or tie. 
bride-ale t (brid'al), n. An old and etymologi- 
cal form of bridal: 
bride-bed (brid'bed), n. [< ME. (not found), < 
AS. bryd-bed = MLG. brutbedde = D. bruidsbed 
= MHG. brutbette, G. brautbett.'] The marriage- 
bed. Shak. [Rare.] 
bride-bowlt (brid'bol), . Same as bride-cup. 
bride-brancht (brid'branch), w. A sprig of rose- 
mary formerly carried at weddings as a token 
of remembrance. 
I'd ride forty miles to follow such a fellow to church ; 
and would make more of a sprig of rosemary at his burial 
than of a gilded bride-branch at mine own wedding. 
Middle/on, Blurt, Master-Constable, i. 1. 
bride-cake (brid'kak), n. Same as wedding- 
cake. 
In the North, slices of the Bride-cake are put through 
the Wedding Ring, they are afterwards laid under Pillows 
at Night to cause young Persons to dream of their Lovers. 
J. Brand, In Bourne's Pop. Autiq. (1777), p. 335. 
bride-chamber (brid'cham'ber), . A nuptial 
apartment. 
Can the children of the bridrchatnker mourn, as long 
as the bridegroom is with them? Mat. ix. 16. 
bride-CUpj (brid'kup), n. A bowl or cup of 
spiced wine and other ingredients formerly 
served with bride-cake at wedding-feasts. Al.su 
called bride-bowl. 
Get our bed ready, chamberlain ; 
Host, a bridf-riiii ; you have rare conceits, 
And good ingredients. II. Jonam, New Inn, T. 1. 
bride-day (brid'da), n. The marriage-day. 
Scott. 
bridegroom (brid'gr6m), n. [Early mod. E. 
bridegrome (Tyndale, A. D. 1525), with inserted r 
as in the simple groom (q. v.) ; < ME. bridegome, 
bridgume, bredgome, brudgume, < AS. brydguma, 
also brydiguma (brydi for bryde, gen. of bryd) (= 
OS. brudigumo = OFries. breidgoma = D. bruide- 
gom, bruigom = MLG. brudegam, LG. bnidegam, 
brodegam, brogam = OHG. brutigomo, MHG. 
briutegome, G. brautigam = Icel. brudligumi = 
Sw. brvdgum, -gvmme, = ODan. brvdcgomme, 
brudgomme, Dan. brvdgom), lit. bride's man, < 
bryd, gen. bryde, etc., bride, + gttma, man: see 
bride 1 and groom. Cf. Goth, brutlifatlig, bride- 
groom^ brutiis, daughter-in-law (bride), + J'atJis 
= Or. irfatf = Skt. pati, husband, lord: see 
despot, potent, etc.] 1. A man newly married, 
or about to be married. 
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. John 111. 29. 
Those dulcet sounds in break of day 
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom t ear, 
And summon him to marriage. SAoJt., M. ofV., lit 2. 
