sinter

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Geology A chemical sediment or crust, as of porous silica, deposited by a mineral spring.
2. n. A mass formed by sintering.
3. v. To cause (metallic powder, for example) to form a coherent mass by heating without melting.
4. v. To form a coherent mass by heating without melting.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Silicious or calcareous matter deposited by springs. The sinter deposited from hot springs is generally silicious; that from cold ones is often calcareous. Among the former there are many varieties, from the very compact to the very crumbly. When pure they are perfectly colorless; but deposits of this kind are often colored by iron and other metallic oxids, so that they exhibit various tints of red and yellow. Calcareous sinter is usually more or less porous in structure, and often concentrically laminated. This material occurs occasionally in sufficient quantity to form an important building-stone, as in Italy, where calcareous sinter is called travertino. See travertine.
2. n. An obsolete form of center.
3. To compact or become compacted together by partial fusion, so as to resemble sinter. See sintering.

Wiktionary

1. n. geology An alluvial sediment deposited by a mineral spring.
2. n. A mass formed by sintering.
3. n. A mixture of iron ore and fluxes added to a blast furnace.
4. v. To compact and heat a powder to form a solid mass.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Min.) Dross, as of iron; the scale which files from iron when hammered; -- applied as a name to various minerals.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. cause (ores or powdery metals) to become a coherent mass by heating without melting