frail

freɪl

WordNet

Interesting fact

In 1992, Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, better known to country music fans as singer/comedienne Minnie Pearl, was awarded a National Medal of Arts by President George Bush. In 1994, Minnie became the first woman to be inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame. She was too frail and sick to attend the ceremony, and so good friend and comedian George Lindsey ("Goober") accepted the award for her. She died in 1996 at age 83.

(adj) frail
easily broken or damaged or destroyed "a kite too delicate to fly safely","fragile porcelain plates","fragile old bones","a frail craft"
(adj) frail
wanting in moral strength, courage, or will; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings "I'm only a fallible human","frail humanity"
(adj) frail
physically weak "an invalid's frail body"
(n) frail
a basket for holding dried fruit (especially raisins or figs)
(n) frail
the weight of a frail (basket) full of raisins or figs; between 50 and 75 pounds

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

frail
frāl A basket made of rushes, used chiefly for containing figs and raisins.
frail
A rush for weaving baskets.
frail
Easily broken; fragile; not firm or durable; liable to fail and perish; easily destroyed; not tenacious of life; weak; infirm. "That I may know how frail I am.", "An old bent man, worn and frail ."
frail
Liable to fall from virtue or be led into sin; not strong against temptation; weak in resolution; also, unchaste; -- often applied to fallen women. "Man is frail , and prone to evil."
frail
Tender. "Deep indignation and compassion frail ."
frail
The quantity of raisins -- about thirty-two, fifty-six, or seventy-five pounds, -- contained in a frail.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

frail
Easily broken or destroyed: fragile; hence, weak in any way; likely to fail and decay; perishable; infirm in constitution or condition.
frail
Specifically, weak in moral principle or resolution; not strong to resist temptation to evil; so weak as to be in danger of falling, or to have fallen, from virtue; of infirm virtue.
frail
Weak-minded.
frail
Tender in sentiment.
frail
Synonyms Fragile, Frail (see fragile); brittle, slight.
frail
To make frail.
(n) frail
A flexible basket made of rushes, and used, especially in commerce, for containing fruits, particularly dried fruits, as dates, figs, or raisins.
(n) frail
[Here is] a frail of figs, which I send to yourself (in the barrel of raisins).
(n) frail
A rush used for weaving baskets.
(n) frail
A certain quantity of raisins, about 75 pounds, contained in a frail.
(n) frail
A wooden carrier or crate used by glaziers to carry sheets of glass.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary

(adj) Frail
frāl wanting in strength or firmness: weak: unchaste
(n) Frail
frāl a rush: a basket made of rushes.

Quotations

Adversities do not make a man frail. They show what sort of man he is.

Thomas Kempis

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.

Victor Hugo

Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. [Psalms 39:4]

Bible

The most unhappy and frail creatures are men and yet they are the proudest.

Michel Eyquem De Montaigne

How frail the human heart must be --a mirrored pool of thought...

Sylvia Plath

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary OE. frele, freile, OF. fraile, frele, F. frêle, fr. L. fragilis,. See Fragile

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary O. Fr. frayel; of dubious origin.

Usage in the news

Frail and in a wheelchair, former Sen Bob Dole was a startling presence on the Senate floor as lawmakers voted on a treaty on disabilities. kold.com

Frail Al Davis Faces the Cameras. nbcsandiego.com

Medicaid, The Frail Elderly, And Federal Budget Cuts. forbes.com

Sick, frail struggle most in superstorm's aftermath. post-gazette.com

Sick, frail struggle in storm's aftermath. timeswv.com

Sick and frail struggle most in aftermath. dailycamera.com

Sick, frail struggle most in aftermath of superstorm Sandy. foxnews.com

Ombudsmen needed to be a voice for the frail . triplicate.com

' Frail ' Crider a giant among Otters' relief pitchers. courierpress.com

Frail Seniors are Most At-Risk and Costliest to Treat. forbes.com

I'm worried about ' frail ' Lady Gaga. nydailynews.com

Elton John Concerned Over ' Frail ' Lady Gaga. rollingstone.com

Demi Moore looks frail stepping off plane. foxnews.com

Demi Moore looks frail in first post-rehab sighting. foxnews.com

She Looked Frail for Months. eastbayexpress.com

Usage in scientific papers

For a different interpretation in terms of central pulsars with high magnetic ﬁelds, see the discussion by Frail .
Plerions and pulsar-powered nebulae

Frail, D. A., in Neutron Stars and Pulsars: Thirty Years after the Discovery, edited by N.
Plerions and pulsar-powered nebulae

Frail, D. A., in The many faces of neutron stars, edited by R.
Plerions and pulsar-powered nebulae

However, in order to establish that the afterglows are jets, other observations are indispensable, such as early afterglow observations at radio frequencies (Frail et al. 2000).
Microlensing of collimated Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows

Lyne, A. G., Manchester, R. N., D’Amico, N., Staveley-Smith, L., Johnston, S., Lim, J., Fruchter, A. S., Goss, W. M., and Frail, D., “An Eclipsing Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster Terzan 5”, Nature, 347, 650–652, (1990).
Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

Usage in literature

Any clue, however frail, was never too slight for him to hunt to its source. "The Watchers of the Plains" by Ridgewell Cullum

The convicts were quick to see and interpret Charley's action, and their guns were quickly turned upon his frail craft. "The Boy Chums in the Forest" by Wilmer M. Ely

Flowers that are three thousand years old, so frail and yet so eternal, make a strange impression upon one. "The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5" by Theophile Gautier

It was a frail, puny creature, always frightened and silent. "The Dop Doctor" by Clotilde Inez Mary Graves

There was something frail, transparent, unsubstantial about her that day which Robert had never noticed before. "Robert Orange" by John Oliver Hobbes

They were not fragrant, though among them were blue-eyed violets, but they were beautiful as they were frail. "Due West" by Maturin Murray Ballou

What centuries of dreams and struggles and rash adventures went to the inventing and perfecting of that frail boat? "The War in the Air; Vol. 1" by Walter Raleigh

Very frail shells, oursins, sea-stars, etc., should be wrapped in cotton and placed, each one apart in a box. "Movement of the International Literary Exchanges, between France and North America from January 1845 to May, 1846" by Various

Opening the door, he saw a slight, frail figure, dressed in a nun-like garb, and recognized the housekeeper. "The Cryptogram" by James De Mille

He sustains us, frail, corrupt, sinful beings that we are. "Epistle Sermons, Vol. II" by Martin Luther

Usage in poetry

Your small wire legs,
So frail, so thin,
Their touch is swansdown
Upon my skin.

"The Ladybird" by Clive Sansom

O fraile unconstant kind,
And safe in truste to noe man!
Noe woemen angells are, yet loe!
My mistris is a woman!

"A Fancy" by Edward Dyer

Teach me the measure of my days,
Thou Maker of my frame;
I would survey life's narrow space,
And learn how frail I am.

"Psalm 39 part 2" by Isaac Watts

"I know not," thus she said to me,
"If my young cheek is pale,
But daily do I feel within
This life of mine grow frail.

"The Vesper Chime" by Mary Gardiner Horsford

Thou mayst live to bless the giver,
Who, himself but frail and weak,
Would at least the highest welfare
Of another seek;

"To ------," by John Greenleaf Whittier

"Farewell, farewell! and Mary grant,
When old and frail you be,
You never may the shelter want,
That's now denied to me."

"The Palmer" by Sir Walter Scott