zinc

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A bluish-white, lustrous metallic element that is brittle at room temperature but malleable with heating. It is used to form a wide variety of alloys including brass, bronze, various solders, and nickel silver, in galvanizing iron and other metals, for electric fuses, anodes, meter cases and batteries, and in roofing, gutters, and various household objects. US pennies minted after 1982 consist of a copper-clad zinc core. Atomic number 30; atomic weight 65.38; melting point 419.53°C; boiling point 907°C; specific gravity 7.134 (at 25°C); valence 2. cross-reference: Periodic Table.
• transitive verb To coat or treat with zinc; galvanize.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To coat or cover with zinc.
• noun The zinc element of a galvanic cell, prepared of proper shape and size, and often fitted with a binding-screw, ready for use.
• noun Chemical symbol, Zn; atomic weight, 64.9. One of the useful metals, more tenacious than lead and tin, but malleable only at a temperature between 200° and 250° F.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To coat with zinc; to galvanize.
• noun (Chem.) An abundant element of the magnesium-cadmium group, extracted principally from the minerals zinc blende, smithsonite, calamine, and franklinite, as an easily fusible bluish white metal, which is malleable, especially when heated. It is not easily oxidized in moist air, and hence is used for sheeting, coating galvanized iron, etc. It is used in making brass, britannia, and other alloys, and is also largely consumed in electric batteries. Symbol Zn. Atomic number 30. Atomic weight 65.38.
• noun (Old Chem.) zinc chloride, ZnCl2, a deliquescent white waxy or oily substance.
• noun (Chem.) See Zinc oxide, below.
• noun (Chem.) a white amorphous substance, Zn(NH2)2, obtained by the action of ammonia on zinc ethyl; -- called also zinc amide.
• noun (Chem.) a colorless, transparent liquid, composed of zinc and amyle, which, when exposed to the atmosphere, emits fumes, and absorbs oxygen with rapidity.
• noun (Min.) a native zinc sulphide. See Blende, n. (a).
• noun (Min.) hydrous carbonate of zinc, usually occurring in white earthy incrustations; -- called also hydrozincite.
• noun (Chem.) a colorless, transparent, poisonous liquid, composed of zinc and ethyl, which takes fire spontaneously on exposure to the atmosphere.
• noun a green pigment consisting of zinc and cobalt oxides; -- called also Rinmann's green.
• noun (Chem.) a colorless mobile liquid Zn(CH3)2, produced by the action of methyl iodide on a zinc sodium alloy. It has a disagreeable odor, and is spontaneously inflammable in the air. It has been of great importance in the synthesis of organic compounds, and is the type of a large series of similar compounds, as zinc ethyl, zinc amyle, etc.
• noun (Chem.) the oxide of zinc, ZnO, forming a light fluffy sublimate when zinc is burned; -- called also flowers of zinc, philosopher's wool, nihil album, etc. The impure oxide produced by burning the metal, roasting its ores, or in melting brass, is called also pompholyx, and tutty.
• noun (Min.) a mineral, related to spinel, consisting essentially of the oxides of zinc and aluminium; gahnite.
• noun (Chem.) zinc sulphate. See White vitriol, under Vitriol.
• noun a white powder consisting of zinc oxide, used as a pigment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun a chemical element (symbol Zn) with an atomic number of 30.
• verb rare To electroplate with zinc.
• verb rare To coat with sunblock incorporating zinc oxide.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• verb coat or cover with zinc
• noun a bluish-white lustrous metallic element; brittle at ordinary temperatures but malleable when heated; used in a wide variety of alloys and in galvanizing iron; it occurs naturally as zinc sulphide in zinc blende