Category:Refractory

Re*frac"to*ry (-r), a. Etym: [l. refractorius, fr. refringere: cf. F. Refractaire. See refract.]

1. Obstinate in disobedience; contumacious; stubborn; unmanageable; As, a refractory child; a refractory beast. Raging appetites that are most disobedient and refractory. Shak.

2. Resisting ordinary treatment; difficult of fusion, reduction, or The like; -- said especially of metals and the like, which do not Readily yield to heat, or to the hammer; as, a refractory ore.

Syn. -- perverse; contumacious; unruly; stubborn; obstinate; unyielding; Ungovernable; unmanageable.

Refractory Re*frac"to*ry, n.

1. A refractory person. Bp. Hall.

2. Refractoriness. [obs.] Jer. Taylor.

3. Opottery) a piece of ware covered with a vaporable flux and placed In a kiln, to communicate a glaze to the other articles. Knight.