Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Likely to break or fall apart; shaky.
- adjective Feeble with age; infirm.
- adjective Of, having, or resembling rickets.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Affected with rickets.
- Feeble in the joints; tottering; infirm; hence, in general, shaky; liable to fall or collapse, as a table, chair, bridge, etc.; figuratively, ill-sustained; weak.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Affected with rickets.
- adjective Feeble in the joints; imperfect; weak; shaky.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of an object: not
strong orsturdy , as because of poorconstruction orupkeep ; notsafe orsecure ;giddy ;shaky . - adjective Of a person:
feeble in thejoints ;tottering . - adjective Affected with or suffering from
rickets .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality
- adjective inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
- adjective affected with, suffering from, or characteristic of rickets
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
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Examples
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I have one I haven't read yet (The Immortal, in rickety old hardback), which I'm sort of saving up, the way you save up the last shot of really fine whiskey.
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Exhibition games were played in rickety stadiums in front of only a handful of fans.
USATODAY.com - Spring training has different look than in 1950s and 60s 2006
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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A befuddled moment passed before he understood she was referring to his rickety motorcycle and not to their assignment as volunteers.
Heaven Lake John Dalton 2004
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Aged and poverty-stricken army officers would drive up to the doorstep behind rickety old horses and in rickety carryalls.
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This is the first time I've heard Russian hardware referred to as "rickety" -- "hell-for-stout" is the more usual description I've encountered.
ISS About to Have a Crew of Six With Soyuz-TMA 15 Launch - NASA Watch 2009
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