cadmium

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A soft, bluish-white metallic element occurring primarily in zinc, copper, and lead ores, that is easily cut with a knife and is used in low-friction, fatigue-resistant alloys, solders, dental amalgams, nickel-cadmium storage batteries, nuclear reactor shields, and in rustproof electroplating. Atomic number 48; atomic weight 112.41; melting point 320.9°C; boiling point 765°C; specific gravity 8.65; valence 2. See Table at element.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Atomic weight, 112.1; chemical symbol, Cd. A metal discovered by Stromeyer in 1817, resembling tin in color and general appearance, and, like that metal, having a “cry” when bent. The specific gravity of the cast metal is 8.62; of the rolled, 8.69. Its hardness is between that of gold and tin, and it is easily rolled to sheets or even to very thin foil. It fuses at about the same temperature as tin, 467°F., and communicates to various alloys the property of fusing at very low temperatures. (See Wood's metal, under metallurgy) If 8 to 10 per cent. of cadmium be added to Rose's metal, its fusing-point is lowered to 167°. Cadmium is a common accompaniment of zinc ores, both blende and calamin, and it is in the smelting of these that the commercial metal is obtained, which is done almost exclusively in Silesia and Belgium. Some kinds of blende contain as much as 3 or 4 per cent. of sulphid of cadmium. This metal also occurs by itself naturally in combination with sulphur, forming the rare mineral called greenockite (which see). The manufactured sulphuret is of importance as furnishing a brilliant and permanent yellow color called cadmium-yellow (see below). This is used by artists, also in coloring soap, and to some extent in calico-printing; it is also used for giving a yellow luster to the surface of porcelain. The total produce of cadmium is supposed to be about two tons a year.

Wiktionary

1. n. a metallic chemical element (symbol Cd) with an atomic number of 48.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Chem.) A comparatively rare element related to zinc, and occurring in some zinc ores. It is a white metal, both ductile and malleable. Symbol Cd. Atomic weight 111.8. It was discovered by Stromeyer in 1817, who named it from its association with zinc or zinc ore.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a soft bluish-white ductile malleable toxic bivalent metallic element; occurs in association with zinc ores