Emily Dickinson Lexicon

British, proper adj. [see Britain, proper adj. and Britain, Great, proper n.]

1. English; pertaining to the United Kingdom (see ED letters); nationality of Lady Franklin, whose husband and crew died trying to find a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; [fig.] hopeful; loyal; constant; persistent.
2. Redcoat; martial; military; armed like a soldier from England; [word play with “brightish”] bright; sunshiny; [fig.] fierce; striking; impressive; eye-catching.

British, proper n. [see Britain, proper adj. and Britain, Great, proper n.]

Redcoats; English army; soldiers for Great Britain in the battle of Quebec; (see ED letters).

brittle, adj. [ME < OE < Germanic 'to break'.]

1. Fragile; delicate; easily broken; not tough; physically weak; [fig.] insecure; vulnerable; mortal; subject to death.
2. Elite; snobbish; temperamental; particular; fussy; finicky; persnickety; dainty; fastidious; high-strung; overly refined; easily disturbed.
3. Tenuous; feeble; insubstantial.
4. Frayed; frazzled; unraveling; coming apart; not tenacious.
5. Unpredictable; erratic; [fig.] aimless; drifting; floating; mercurial; quicksilver.
6. Unstable; unsteady; shifting; structurally weak; [fig.] dubious; doubtful; tentative; provisional.

broach (-ed), v. [ME < Fr. < Late L. brocca, spike, pointed instrument.]

Utter; reveal; suggest a plan; propose an idea; introduce a topic; open for discussion; make public for the first time.

broad (-er, -est), adj. [OE < Germanic.] (webplay: breadth, equal, narrow, open).

1. Vast; extensive; widespread; large in territory; [fig.] infinite; eternal; timeless; universal; heavenly (see Job 11:9).
2. Bold; strong; stalwart; mighty; impenetrable; having stout walls; [sense play] breached; opened wide (see Nehemiah 3:8).
3. Generous; liberal; welcoming; sweepingly inclusive (see Job 36:16).
4. Famous; important; impressive; well-known; [fig.] grand; noble; royal; high-ranking.
5. Tolerant; intellectual; non-judgmental; open-minded; accepting of various points of view; [fig.] vague; obscure; ambiguous; indefinite; indecisive; mysterious; nebulous; noncommittal (see Matthew 7:13).

broad, adv. [see broad, adj.]

Widely; extensively; sweepingly; [fig.] infinitely; eternally.

broad, n. [see broad, adj.]

Scholar; pundit; well-educated person; [fig.] puffed-up speaker; self-important preacher.

broadcloth, adj. [EME; see broad, adj. and cloth, n.]

Woollen goods; fabric woven on a wide loom; [fig.] warm and sturdy; great and generous; strong and kind; not delicate and vulnerable; not overly sensitive or fragile.

brocade, n. [It. broccato, cloth of gold or silver; NW says “pamphlet or stitched book.”] (webplay: gold).

Embroidered textile; elaborate fabric with metallic threads; silk stuff variegated with gold and silver; cloth from India with patterns of raised flowers, foliage, or other ornaments; [fig.] poetry; handwritten text; intricate metrical composition; (see “truth, like ancestors' brocades, can stand alone” in Eliot's Mill on the Floss).

broke (-n), verbal adj. [see break, v.] (webplay: company, crack, discard, heart, new, passion, pierce, utter).

1. Incorrect; corrupted; inaccurate; mistaken; erroneous; dysfunctional.
2. Subdued; mentally or physically crushed; [fig.] unclean; subject to sin.
3. Sorrowful; contrite; suffering; remorseful.
4. Shattered; ruined; destroyed; disintegrated; in pieces; [fig.] dead; decaying; dismembered; subject to decomposition.
5. Discontinued; separated; terminated; divorced; split up; parted by schism; out of association; ending relations.
6. Phrase. “Broken hearted”: exquisitely sensitive; willing to endure pain for others (see Psalm 34:18).