Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A slender, usually tubular body of glassy rock produced by lightning striking and then fusing dry sandy soil.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. An explosive of the nitroglycerin class, used for blasting: similar to dynamite, but the nature of the dope has not been disclosed by the inventor.
  2. n. A tube formed, usually in loose sand, but sometimes in the solid rock, by lightning; a lightning-tube. Fulgurites are the result of the passage of the electric current through the soil, sand, or rock, producing more or less complete fusion in the vicinity of the path traversed. They usually descend vertically, but sometimes obliquely, find they occasionally branch toward the bottom. They are rarely more than one or two inches in diameter. The effect of lightning is sometimes seen, and occasionally on a large scale, where no proper fulgurites have been formed, but rather a sort of honeycombed condition of the rock, resembling that produced in wood by the boring of the teredo, as observed on Little Ararat, and described by Abich. For the rock (andesite) thus vitrified and altered this geologist proposes the name fulgurite andesite.

Wiktionary

  1. n. glass formed by a lightning strike melting sand or other material

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A vitrified sand tube produced by the striking of lightning on sand; a lightning tube; also, the portion of rock surface fused by a lightning discharge.

Etymologies

  1. Latin fulgur, lightning; see fulgurate + -ite1.

Examples

  • “The unheated soil associated with the fulgurite is a tan, sandy silt.”

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb

  • “I found a fulgurite, once It was broken off near where the boiled sand first fused to glass and ended about six inches down the stem.”

    Making Light: Pretty rocks

  • “Is the light grey stone on the right part of the matrix surrounding the fulgurite?”

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb

  • “The photographer says that the entire fulgurite is about 10 cm in diameter, but this photograph is only a detail.”

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb

  • “During the lightning strike, the soil heated up to the gray color shown in this photo, forming the exterior of the fulgurite, and individual grains are cemented together with a small amount of glass.”

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb

  • “It was a fulgurite, Laura told him, sand fused the moment it was struck by lightning.”

    The Tenth Circle

  • “The lab reported the explosive had been chemical - fulgurite-B, the name is.”

    Time Patrolman

  • “Also found in the altar trench was a sample of fulgurite or petrified lightning.”

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News

  • “It is not clear if the fulgurite was formed on the mountain-top or if it was brought to the site as a dedication to Zeus.”

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News

  • “The fulgurite was interesting–I’ve never found one although I have seen the shatter cones in the rock around Sudbury from the meteorite that planted the nickel mines 1.8 billion years ago.”

    Photo Contest Vote: Minerals - The Panda's Thumb

Show 10 more examples...

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘fulgurite’.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • ericminton A naturally forming hollow glass tube; created when certain types of sand are struck by lightning. Sep 16, 2008

‘fulgurite’ has been looked up 398 times, added to 4 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 13.