refractory

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“
As with my bread-baking analogy, Howard insured repeatability of ingredients Any hard, woody materials--Howard called them "refractory"--must be thoroughly broken up before composting, otherwise the fermentation would not be vigorous, rapid, and uniform throughout the process.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. adjective Obstinately resistant to authority or control. See Synonyms at unruly.
  2. adjective Difficult to melt or work; resistant to heat: a refractory material such as silica.
  3. adjective Resistant to treatment: a refractory case of acne.
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Examples (50)

  • She recommends, under strict limitations , the treadmill for hardened, refractory, and depraved women, but only for short periods. —  Elizabeth Fry
  • The metal of it was hard and refractory, as the hull had been, and no armor-piercing shell had opened the way for him. —  ASTOUNDING
  • About eleven o'clock one of the asses proving very refractory, the Negroes took a curious method to make him tractable. —  Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa
  • From what he states, it would seem that these "disturbances, daily committed by uncivil, refractory, and rude Russian-like rake-shames, in contesting for the way, too often proved mortal, and certainly were of very bad consequences to many." —  The Life of Thomas Telford
  • I then tried to remove the pigment which hid my figures; but the varnish was refractory, and, after a vain attempt, I finally cut the picture up and stuck it in the fire. —  The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration (influenced by adjectives in -ory) of obsolete refractary, from Latin refrāctārius, from refrāctus, past participle of refringere, to break up; see refract.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Erroneously for the earlier refractary, from Latin refractarius, stubborn, obstinate, refractory: see refractary.
 

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/rəˈfræktəri/
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