Re*frac"to*ry (-r?), a. [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.
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.
