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.
© Webster 1913.
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.
© Webster 1913.