Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A natural volcanic glass similar to obsidian but having distinctive concentric cracks and a relatively high water content. In a fluffy heat-expanded form perlite is used as a lightweight aggregate, in fire-resistant insulation, and in soil for potted plants.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A peculiar form of certain vitreous rocks, such as obsidian and pitch-stone, the mass of which sometimes assumes the form of enamel-like globules. These may constitute the whole rock, in which case they become polygonal in form owing to mutual pressure, or they may be separated from each other by more or less of the unaltered vitreous material.
- n. See pearlite.
Wiktionary
- n. mineralogy An amorphous volcanic glass formed by the hydration of obsidian
- n. The lightweight insulating material and aggregate resulting from expanding the glass by heat.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Min.) Same as pearlite.
Etymologies
- From French perle ("pearl") + -ite (Wiktionary)
- French (from perle, pearl, from Old French; see pearl1) or German Perlite (from Perle, pearl, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *pernula). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The name perlite (also spelled pearlite) comes from the French word perle which means pearl, in reference to the “pearly” luster of classic perlite.”
“The name perlite (also spelled pearlite) comes from the French word perle which means pearl, in reference to the "pearly" luster of classic perlite.”
“A: Most potting soil or seed-starting media that you purchase in a garden center is pasteurized and contains inert material, such as vermiculite or perlite, which is sterile.”
“The company has argued the contract changes to boost efficiency and productivity were necessary given the lower demand for perlite, which is used for liquid solid separations and in fillers for paints, coatings, polymers and elastomers.”
“Lightweight Aggregate, such as perlite or vermiculite, can be added for special applications requiring overall weight reduction, additional thermal insulation or sound absorption.”
“But "perlite" or not, there can be no question of the astounding stupidity of the West Indian rank and file, a stupidity amusing if you are in an amusable mood, unendurable if you neglect to pack your patience among your bag of supplies in the morning.”
Zone Policeman 88; a close range study of the Panama canal and its workers
“Strip off the lower leaves and stick the stem into moist, soil-less mix, such as perlite and-or vermiculite.”
“Even plants that usually grow on dry land—in soil—can be grown with their roots in a mineral-nutrient solution or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, or something called mineral wool—fibers made from minerals or metal oxides.”
“A common ingredient in potting mixes is perlite, which makes the soils airier while also retaining moisture.”
Inflation Gets Right Down to the Real Nitty-Gritty « Isegoria
“The toenail clippers were put to the task, resulting in several choice stems that were given the rooting hormone routine and potted up into the mix of two thirds perlite to one third seed starting mix.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘perlite’.
-
Beer and Brewing
Words about beer and the making of it.
airlock, bung, carboy, diversol, hops, mashtun, beer, sparge, trub, wort, malt, malt liquor and 184 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for perlite.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.