Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of a large group of structurally similar hydrated double silicate minerals, such as hornblende, containing various combinations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun   A name given by Haüy to hornblende, from its resemblance to augite, for which it may readily be mistaken: now used as a general term to include all the varieties of which common hornblende is one. See hornblende .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.)  A common mineral embracing many varieties varying in color and in composition. It occurs in monoclinic crystals; also massive, generally with fibrous or columnar structure. The color varies from white to gray, green, brown, and black. It is a silicate of magnesium and calcium, with usually aluminium and iron. Some common varieties are tremolite ,actinolite ,asbestus ,edenite ,hornblende (the last name being also used as a general term for the whole species). Amphibole is a constituent of many crystalline rocks, as syenite, diorite, most varieties of trachyte, etc. Seehornblende .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geology  A large group of structurally similar hydrated doublesilicate minerals , containing various combinations ofsodium ,calcium ,magnesium ,iron , andaluminium /aluminum 
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a mineral or mineral variety belonging to the amphibole group
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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								Prolonged exposure to one variety, called amphibole fibers, appears to bring serious tissue damage and cancer. 
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								That is the textbook definition, but some other typical characteristics of dacite lavas (or magmas) is the presence of certain minerals: plagioclase feldspar and hydrous minerals (containing water in their mineral structure) such as amphibole (typically hornblende) or biotite mica. 
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								Tightly bound chrysolite, amphibole and tremolite fibres are completely safe and their manufacture and export strictly controlled, in theory, under the Hazardous Products and Environmental Protection Acts. Take a position, lose a candidate - Beyond The Commons - Macleans.ca 2009 
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								There is strong evidence that the genotoxic and carcinogenic potentials of asbestos fibers are not identical; in particular, mesothelial cancer is most strongly associated with amphibole fibers. 
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								In the amphibole group, there are five types of asbestos. Asbestos 2008 
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								Elemental analysis data for several chrysotile and amphibole samples are presented in the table below. Geology of asbestos 2007 
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								The amphiboles have a lower water (hydroxyl) content and their dehydroxylation reaction begins between 400-600° C, depending on the amphibole type; this reaction leads to a weight loss of approximately 2%. Geology of asbestos 2007 
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								The behavior of amphibole fibers under continuous heating is similar to that observed with chrysotile, although the temperatures of dehydroxylation and recrystallization processes are different. Geology of asbestos 2007 
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								From this generic representation, the chemical composition of the amphibole asbestos can be given as noted in Table 1. Geology of asbestos 2007 
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								The average chemical composition of amphibole minerals may be represented as: Geology of asbestos 2007 
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