REFRACTORINESS
Re*frac"to*ri*ness, n.
Defn: The quality or condition of being refractory.
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.