- 1aB2
/ˈbreɪkəbəl/
Made of glass, clay, or a material like them, so it breaks easily if you drop it or knock it.
易碎的
核心畫面
Think of holding a glass: nothing has happened yet, but you know one slip and it is gone. Break + -able = it has the property of being able to break, not that it is broken.
手裡拿著一個玻璃杯，你還沒摔，但你已經知道——只要一鬆手，它就會碎。這個字講的正是那個「還沒發生、但隨時會發生」的狀…更多收起
手裡拿著一個玻璃杯，你還沒摔，但你已經知道——只要一鬆手，它就會碎。這個字講的正是那個「還沒發生、但隨時會發生」的狀態。拆開來看就很清楚：break（破、碎）加上 -able（做得到、有可能被…），所以 breakable 不是說東西已經壞了，而是說它有「可以被弄破」這個性質，會不會真的破要看你怎麼對待它。這就是為什麼它總是出現在小心提醒的場合：搬家紙箱上、包裝說明裡、把貴重東西交給別人的時候。From the word’s history
Transparent formation: break + -able (from Latin -abilis, 'able to be ...'), the same live suffix behind readable, washable, and unbreakable.
結構透明：動詞 break 加上字尾 -able（來自拉丁文 -abilis，表示「可以被…的」）。這個字尾在英語裡是活的，隨時能造新字：readable（讀得下去的）、washable（可水洗的）、unbreakable（打不破的）。認得這個組合，breakable 就不用背——它就是「break 得起來的」。
Wiktionary, entry for 'breakable' (break + -able; suffix from Old French -able, Latin -ābilis)
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
breakableadj/ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/
- 1
Able to break or be broken.
- The accident was also one of several since Clapham […] that demonstrated the role of breakable windows in the death toll. RSSB research would later confirm and reinforce the need for laminated glass to protect passengers and increase survivability.
- 2
Fragile.
- Next Christmas she sent us bisque dolls, very lovely but too breakable to hug; we could not even kiss them but they cracked.
breakablenoun/ˈbɹeɪkəbəl/
- 1
Something that is (easily) breakable.
- We had to wrap all the breakables before the movers arrived.
- She was, she wrote, “impatient and absent-minded, prone to drop things intentionally or through clumsiness, even breakables like dishes and love affairs; a woman who is perennially on the move, changing jobs and homes at the drop of a hat and inventing reasons afterward while she is packing; a person who runs away as soon as she gets nervous, long before she smells danger.”
- 2
entertainmentlifestylemusicA set of customized hardware that is part of a drum kit. Breakables typically consist of: the drummer's cymbals including high-hats, the snare drum, the kick pedal and the drummer's stool.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。