noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbɹɪkbæts/
General-American:/ˈbɹɪkˌbæts/
CMU ARPABET:B R IH1 K B AE2 T S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Small rocky particles moving as a group in space, especially as forming rings around planets.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, plural, plural-only
Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
plural of brickbat
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
third-person singular simple present indicative of brickbat
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
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.