friable

Definition

Easily broken into small fragments, crumbled, or reduced to powder.

Etymology

Borrowed from French friable, from Latin friābilis (“friable”), from friō (“I crumble”).

Example Sentences

• "Spiders had woven their vague trapezes between the friable heads of dead peonies in enormous glass jars streaked with tide marks where the water had evaporated long ago."
• "This light, friable type of material offered excellent insulation against both desert heat and also the cold of darkness during the winter."
• "So while two men under his directions were digging the grave with sticks in the friable granitic soil, he superintended the costume of the other actors in the drama."

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