Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hard, silvery-white metallic element used to toughen steels and in corrosion-resistant nickel alloys. An essential trace element in plant nutrition, it is used in fertilizers, dyes, enamels, and reagents. Atomic number 42; atomic weight 95.96; melting point 2,623°C; boiling point 4,639°C; specific gravity 10.22 (at 20°C); valence 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Chemical symbol, Mo; atomic weight, 95. 8. A metal of a silver-white color, but harder than silver, which fuses with difficulty, if at all, at the highest temperature of a wind-furnace.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A rare element of the chromium group, occurring in nature in the minerals molybdenite and wulfenite, and when reduced obtained as a hard, silver-white, difficulty fusible metal. Symbol Mo. Atomic number 42. Atomic weight 95.94.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Mo) with an atomic number of 42.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a polyvalent metallic element that resembles chromium and tungsten in its properties; used to strengthen and harden steel

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin, from earlier molybdena, lead ore, from Latin molybdaena, galena, from Greek molubdaina, from molubdos, lead, probably from Lydian mariwda, dark.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin molybdenum, from Ancient Greek μόλυβδος ("lead"), because the two elements are so similar they were often confused.

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Examples

  • If copper is the life blood of the economy, I call molybdenum the glue of the economy.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page The Gold Report 2010

  • The deal is likely to make Sichuan Hanlong a major player in the global market for molybdenum, which is commonly used in steel alloys and to remove sulfur impurities from petroleum products.

    Corporate Watch 2010

  • Taken together, the interests in both miners are likely to make Sichuan Hanlong a major player in the global market for molybdenum, which is commonly used in steel alloys and to remove sulfur impurities from petroleum products.

    China Firm Seeks Australian Mine Deals 2010

  • Production of molybdenum, which is used in the making of steel, decreased 28%.

    Freeport-McMoRan's Earnings Decline 37% 2009

  • It also said its operations for molybdenum, which is used in the making of steel, are likely to remain weaker than normal.

    Freeport-McMoRan Net Falls 2009

  • The reactors produce material called molybdenum-99 that decays into technetium-99m, which is the most commonly used medical isotope in the U.S.

    Closure of Canadian Nuclear Reactor Hampers Medical Sector 2009

  • Freeport, based in Phoenix, said it is slashing its 2009 capital-expenditure budget by 52%, to $1.1 billion from a prior estimate of $2.3 billion, because of sharply lower prices of copper and molybdenum, which is used to strengthen steel.

    Freeport Cuts Spending, Output 2008

  • The Metals Week Dealer Oxide price for molybdenum, which is used in steelmaking, had fallen to $9 on Monday from about $30 a pound in October, hurt by the slump in demand for steel.

    Freeport Cuts Spending, Output 2008

  • Many times I typed the word molybdenum, uncertain how it might be said.

    Molybdenum 1995

  • Sales of copper, gold and molybdenum, which is used to strengthen steel, all topped the company's expectations.

    Freeport-McMoRan 4Q earnings jump on higher prices - Yahoo! Finance 2011

Comments

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  • Mo.

    December 16, 2007

  • Shortened to moly, pronounced molly, in the metals trade.

    August 26, 2008