Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Composed chiefly of rock fragments of volcanic origin.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Formed by volcanic agencies, or in the process of being erupted: applied to volcanic breccia or to any angular or comminuted material of igneous origin.
- n. A pyroclastic rock.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- From pyro- + clastic, from Ancient Greek πῦρ (pur, "fire"), and κλαστός (klastos, "broken"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The heavier particles stay close to the ground and roll downhill in what we call a pyroclastic flow.”
“Hundreds of thousands of people live beneath it and could be hit with what are known as pyroclastic flows -- extremely fast-moving, dense clouds of hot ash and rock that flow down the mountain.”
The Washington Post: Scientists find it difficult to predict volcano behavior
“At least 90 people were killed as a superheated clouds of ash, gas and debris known as pyroclastic flows tumbled down the mountain and incinerated villages.”
The Wall Street Journal: Some Flights Resume Following Indonesia Volcano
“Red-hot clouds of gas and fine ash known as pyroclastic density currents flowed down the slopes of Vesuvius, engulfing Pompeii's frescoed villas, as well as its shops, public baths and brothels, where explicit erotic paintings and the customers' graffiti can still be seen.”
“Scorching flows of gas and rock - called pyroclastic flows - that spew during each eruption were seen on Merapi's southern slopes just before midnight Friday at speeds of up to 60 mph”
“The photo also shows a ground-hugging plume of light gray ash, probably a mix of hot gas and ash in what volcanologists call a pyroclastic flow, descending from the volcano summit.”
“An eruption might create something called a pyroclastic flow, or high-speed avalanche of hot rocks and gas.”
“This explanation states that while covering a distance of some three kilometers, the pyroclastic flow picked up volcanic bombs or incandescent blocks of various sizes which began to rotate as they were pushed along, finally acquiring a spherical shape.”
“These appear to be the biggest manifestations on our planet of a rare pyroclastic-flow crystallization phenomenon.”
“Do you think you are far enough away to avoid the pyroclastic flow?”
Tom McIntyre Explains His Picks for our 2009 Hunting and Fishing Heroes and Villians Face-Off
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pyroclastic’.
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Shadowkeir's list
This list, the one shown below this very message, is a collection of words that you cannot begin to fathom how much I adore. The list will also feature atithesis and contrasting words such as the t...
wishful, anticlimactic, forte, monchromatic, septic, wonderous, isoclinal, deformed, disintergrate, favourite, laughable, awe-inspiring and 250 more...
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polymorph's Words
pornerastic, yeaux, enantiadromia, synchronicity, transubstantiation, sensimilla, slough, scaphism, symbiosis, prolix, orgiastic, cryptogamic and 245 more...
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Vocabulary
Words I come across while reading.
talus, echelon, onanistic, cabochon, avocation, charnel, moue, portentous, prolixity, astringent, hoary, patina and 165 more...
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geologic
karst, meander, lapis lazuli, metasomatic, amphibole, metamorphic, ultrabasic, chilled margin, metavolcanic, subvolcanic, volcanic bomb, pyroclastic and 116 more...
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eesome
Includes any intangible conceivable independently of Hom. Sap.
depthless, overspire, unsteady, thitherward, rile, munchable, covet, pastinaceous, mirtle, slonk, tink, inerrarable and 345 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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beatricks's Words
tremendous, naiad, thrush, samsara, thronging, nascent, broom, aristeia, streak, susurrant, reverberate, resistentialism and 352 more...
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je les adore!
fusillade, foal, celestial, abattoir, byzantium, berlin, casablanca, babylon, balkans, albion, avalon, between the devil... and 471 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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karnage's Words
furbelow, farinaceous, fendrake, rhizobium, imbricate, quaquaversal, exstasis, grapheme, scissiparity, apterous, obdurant, omphalos and 135 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, P
pellucid, pertain, pampas, prate, pinecone, philistine, pantocrator, papaverine, postmeridian, potlatch, pharology, pinniped and 622 more...
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lucidityprevails's Words
lucidity, journalistic, truthiness, foolhardy, egotism, lesbian, orgasmic, activism, moonglow, voodoo, conquer, demolish and 534 more...
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annaluna's Words
lithe, bewitching, contrary, arsenic, pariah, tentative, tenuous, tenacious, mired, gobsmacked, lackluster, caustic and 7 more...
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I like : P
palladium, pallida mors, pantheon, parabola, parapraxis, pasqueflower, pawpaw, pear, pentacle, pentagram, penumbra, perhaps and 37 more...
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decreation
Words looked up while reading Decreation by Anne Carson.
cicatrice, selvedge, morganatically, caesura, glukupikros, siffling, protasis, chiastic, traduce, pyroclastic, quidnunc
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my favorite geology terms
(i'm a rock nerd, so what? :P)
dodecahedron, schist, gneiss, rhombic, conchoidal, metamorphose, loam, shale, sphalerite, apatite, orbital harmony, carboniferous and 26 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for pyroclastic.
hernesheir Anagram of cryoplastic. Fire vs. ice. May 20, 2010