Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Shining with a faint light or luminosity like that of phosphorus; luminous without sensible heat.
- noun A substance having the property of phosphorescence, or luminosity without heat.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Shining with a phosphoric light; luminous without sensible heat.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having the property of
emitting light for a period of time after the source ofexcitation is taken away, e.g., inelectrostatic storage tubes andcathode-ray tubes . - noun A phosphorescent
substance .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective emitting light without appreciable heat as by slow oxidation of phosphorous
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Extract from a letter by Mr. S.C. Patterson, second officer of the P. and O. steamship _Delta_: a spectacle which the _Journal_ continues to call phosphorescent:
The Book of the Damned Charles Fort
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Wherever it is rubbed, in the dark, on a door, or on a wall, it leaves a luminous trail of a very peculiar appearance, which has been called phosphorescent, from the name of the substance which produces it.
The History of a Mouthful of Bread And its effect on the organization of men and animals Jean Mac�� 1854
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Mr. Hoepfner however thinks the dispersion of the diamond by this great heat should be called a phosphorescent evaporation of it, rather than a combustion; and from its other analogies of crystallization, hardness, transparency, and place of its nativity, wishes again to replace it amongst the precious stones.
The Botanic Garden A Poem in Two Parts. Part 1: the Economy of Vegetation Erasmus Darwin 1766
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When zinc and sulphur are hested together in close vessels the sulphur rises in vapour without t ing to the zinc; but it is staled by Mr.E. Davy, that in some ex - perimenls made in the laboratoiy of the Royal Institution, in which sulphur in vapour was passed over melted zinc, they united, and formed a white crystalline substance, analogous to the substauce found in nature, and called phosphorescent blende.
Elements of Chemical Philosophy: Part 1, Vol.1 Humphry Davy, Sir Humphry Davy 1812
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'phosphorescent' - but the children are still and utterly captivated.
Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph 2010
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- to call the phosphorescent-Slurpee spill of paint on our Genesis coupe: Lime Rock Green.
Automotive News Blog at CARandDRIVER.com - Car News Resource 2009
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But once you start talking about washing sperm, intrauterine insemination, Microsort where they actually paint sperm with some kind of phosphorescent dye--eek, IVf, etc., that's up to you.
Fertility Facts: Does Going to a Doctor Really Help? GreenFertility 2006
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But once you start talking about washing sperm, intrauterine insemination, Microsort where they actually paint sperm with some kind of phosphorescent dye--eek, IVf, etc., that's up to you.
Archive 2006-07-01 GreenFertility 2006
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From behind his half-lowered eyelashes they shone with a kind of phosphorescent gleam — if I may so express myself — which was not the reflection of a fervid soul or of a playful fancy, but a glitter like to that of smooth steel, blinding but cold.
A Hero of Our Time 2003
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Waited until the light died down, then died out, leaving behind only the diagram, the lines now covered with a kind of phosphorescent slime.
Jinx High Lackey, Mercedes 1994
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