brickbats

English

Etymology

From brickbat +‎ -s. The plural only sense (“small rocky particles moving as a group in space”) was coined by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and is used chiefly in reference to his writings.[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪkbæts/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪkˌbæts/
Hyphenation: brick‧bats

Noun

brickbats pl (plural only)

(astronomy, informal) Small rocky particles moving as a group in space, especially as forming rings around planets.

Noun

brickbats

plural of brickbat

Verb

brickbats

third-person singular simple present indicative of brickbat

References

“brickbat, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

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[1] “brickbat, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.