friable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- friability noun
- friableness noun
- unfriable adjective
- unfriableness noun
Etymology
Origin of friable
First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin friābilis, equivalent to friā(re) “to rub, crumble” + -ābilis -able
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Army Corps, he wrote, “estimates that 50% of the sites on the property contain friable asbestos.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2025
But one piece of the more concerning friable asbestos - which can be easily crushed into a powder - was found at a public park in suburb Surry Hills.
From BBC • Feb. 19, 2024
“Dawson’s Fall” asks what truth means in an era when conviction matters more, and Roxana Robinson’s answer — that morality is friable — should make us sit up and tremble.
From New York Times • May 31, 2019
It’s a joy to see them at work in moist, friable soil once the tarp is removed.
From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2017
Now there were open fields among the lakes and forests, fields with the crumbly friable soil potatoes love.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
