FOIBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does foible mean? 

• FOIBLE (noun)
  The noun FOIBLE has 2 senses:

1. a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

2. the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip

  Familiarity information: FOIBLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOIBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

foible; idiosyncrasy; mannerism

Hypernyms ("foible" is a kind of...):

distinctiveness; peculiarity; speciality; specialness; specialty (a distinguishing trait)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("foible" is a kind of...):

part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)

Holonyms ("foible" is a part of...):

blade; brand; steel; sword (a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard)

 Context examples 

Now that was tact, for two of the ruling foibles of the masculine mind were touched.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Catherine feared, as she listened to their discourse, that he indulged himself a little too much with the foibles of others.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Putting aside the little foibles of a rich young man of fashion, les indescrétions d’une jeunesse dorée, I could have sworn that he was as good a man as I have ever known.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Fortunately for those who pay their court through such foibles, a fond mother, though, in pursuit of praise for her children, the most rapacious of human beings, is likewise the most credulous; her demands are exorbitant; but she will swallow any thing; and the excessive affection and endurance of the Miss Steeles towards her offspring were viewed therefore by Lady Middleton without the smallest surprise or distrust.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)