Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Amalgam   /əmˈælgəm/   Listen
Amalgam

noun
1.
An alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams.  Synonym: dental amalgam.
2.
A combination or blend of diverse things.



Related search:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar





"Amalgam" Quotes from Famous Books



... means yet discovered for silvering iron directly, yet it is not so lasting as some of the other processes. Take quicksilver and the metal potassium, equal parts by volume, put them together in a tumbler, and if both metals be good there will be a brisk ebullition, which continues until an amalgam of the two is formed, then add as much quicksilver as there is of the amalgam; let it work till thoroughly mixed, and it is ready for use. This amalgam you may apply with a cloth to any metal, even iron, though it be a rusty bar, and ...
— Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets • Daniel Young

... he was able to excite both kinds of electricity on this tube. He found also that certain substances, such as glass and amber, were electrified positively when taken out of mercury, and this led to his important discovery that an amalgam of mercury and tin, when used on the surface of the rubber, was ...
— A History of Science, Volume 2(of 5) • Henry Smith Williams

... Religious Difficulty is created by the essential and fundamental genius of Romanism. Her whole ideal of life differs from the Protestant ideal. It is impossible to reconcile these two ideals. It is impossible to unite them in any amalgam that would not mean the destruction of both. Under Imperial Rule these ideals have discovered a decently working modus vivendi. Mr. Pitt's contention that the union with Great Britain would be an effectual barrier against Romanism has held good. ...
— Against Home Rule (1912) - The Case for the Union • Various

... Mr. Cushing, is below the freezing-point of quicksilver. Shall we take lessons in fixedness of principle from the Whig-Antislavery Member from Federalist Essex?—in stable convictions from the Tyler-Commissioner to China?—in consistency from the Democratic Attorney-General?—in an amalgam of all three from the Coalition Judge? Shall we find a more pointed warning of the worthlessness of success in the words than in the example of the orator? Since Reynard the Fox donned a friar's hood, and, with the feathers still sticking in his whiskers, preached against ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. II., November, 1858., No. XIII. • Various

... to be eked out with a length of the fox's skin of deceit before it covers them; and we may confidently assert that such a belief as the belief of the early Church in the Resurrection of the Lord was never the product either of deceit or of illusion, or of any amalgam of ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture - St. Matthew Chaps. IX to XXVIII • Alexander Maclaren

... and in their train shocking uncertainty and darkness of mind, a corresponding intolerance, discord of faiths, religious wars, crusades, persecution of heretics and inquisitions; as the form of fellowship, chivalry, an amalgam of savagery and foolishness, with its pedantic system of absurd affectations, its degrading superstitions, and apish veneration for women; the survival of which is gallantry, deservedly requited by the arrogance of women; it affords ...
— Essays of Schopenhauer • Arthur Schopenhauer

... fusion, of two or more metals. Sometimes alloys seem to be chemical compounds, as shown by their having generally a melting point lower than the average of those of their constituents. An alloy of a metal with mercury is termed an amalgam. An important application in electricity is the use of fusible alloys for fire alarms or for safety fuses. German silver is also of importance for resistance coils, and palladium alloys are used for unmagnetizable watches. ...
— The Standard Electrical Dictionary - A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice - of Electrical Engineering • T. O'Conor Slone

... were prepared in pieces and fitted together with screws that ran easily in the thread, and then were taken apart again. Then came the laborious work of gilding by the mercury process, smearing every piece very carefully with an amalgam of mercury and gold, and putting it into a gentle, steady fire, until the mercury had evaporated, tearing only the dull gold in an even deposit on the surfaces. Then the finishing, the burnishing of the high lights, and ...
— Marzio's Crucifix and Zoroaster • F. Marion Crawford

... silver is removed; then it is placed in a vessel with the quicksilver, which seems immediately to absorb it, thus separating it entirely from every particle of sand or rock. If the metal to be cleansed is gold, you will see a pasty mass or amalgam, as it is called, of a yellowish tinge. This is heated, and the mercury flies away, leaving ...
— St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 5, March, 1878 • Various

... protects his invention with the competent armor of irony, and now and then—particularly in the felicitous tenson spoken by Perion and Demetrios concerning the charms of Melicent—brings mirth and beauty to an amalgam which bids fair to prove classic metal. A much larger share of this mirth appears in Jurgen, which narrates with phallic candor the exploits of a middle-aged pawnbroker of Poictesme in pursuit of immortal desire. Of course he does not ...
— Contemporary American Novelists (1900-1920) • Carl Van Doren

... of the novice before whom an observation-hive* is opened will be one of some disappointment. He had been told that this little glass case contained an unparalleled activity, an infinite number of wise laws, and a startling amalgam of mystery, experience, genius, calculation, science, of various industries, of certitude and prescience, of intelligent habits and curious feelings and virtues. All that he sees is a confused mass of little reddish groups, somewhat resembling ...
— The Life of the Bee • Maurice Maeterlinck

... questions that I can honorably answer, I will; not otherwise. So far as I am myself concerned, I have told everything truthfully. I value my word, sir." The few who talk about his vindictive spirit, while they really admire his heroism, have no test by which to detect a noble man, no amalgam to combine with his pure gold. They mix ...
— A Plea for Captain John Brown • Henry David Thoreau



Words linked to "Amalgam" :   metal, alloy, combination



Copyright © 2024 Dictionary One.com