friable |ˈfrīəbəl|adjectiveeasily crumbled : the soil was friable between her fingers.DERIVATIVESfriability |ˌfrīəˈbilətē| nounfriableness nounORIGIN mid 16th cent.: from French, or from Latinfriabilis, from friare ‘to crumble.’
Another word that doesn't mean what I thought it meant. I was thinking of chicken wings, potato wedges, and Twinkies--stuff that can be fried. Do we really need another word for crumbly?
I've always thought that something which is friable is more finely textured than something which is crumbly. I wonder if there any basis for this, or whether it's because the crumble used in puddings (apple crumble etc.) is quite chunky...
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying that friable is a word between powdery and crumbly? Hm, interesting.
DeleteI knew it wasn't related to frying, but I'm not sure I knew exactly what it meant.
ReplyDelete