Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BRITTLE, adj. and v. Sc. usages.
I. adj.
†1. Shaky, on the verge of insolvency.Ayr. 1826 Galt Last of the Lairds xxxv.:
Broken merchants, ravelled manufacturers, and brittle bankers.
2. Difficult, “kittle” (Fif.10 1936).Sc. 1890 J. Kerr Hist. of Curling 352:
I promise . . . I will fit fair, sweep well, take all the brittle (angled) shots I can.Abd.9 1936:
He's gey brittle i' the temper.Ayr. a.1839 Galt The Howdie and Other Tales (1923) 3:
James Blithe was my first and only jo, and but for that armed man, Poverty, who sat ever demanding at our hearth, there never was a brittle minute in the course of our wedded life.
†II. v. “To render friable” (Sc. 1825 Jam.2). Ppl.adj. brittled.Sc. 1743 R. Maxwell Select Trans. Agric. 109:
Early in the Spring, harrow it, to mix the Clay brought to top (which will be brittled by the Winter-frosts) with the Ashes.
