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Webster 1913 Edition

Emery

Em′er-y

,
Noun.
[F.
émeri
, earlier
émeril
, It.
smeriglio
, fr. Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], [GREEK], cf. [GREEK] to wipe; perh. akin to E.
smear
. Cf.
Emeril
.]
(Min.)
Corundum in the form of grains or powder, used in the arts for grinding and polishing hard substances. Native emery is mixed with more or less magnetic iron. See the Note under
Corundum
.
Emery board
,
cardboard pulp mixed with emery and molded into convenient.
–
Emery cloth
or
Emery paper
,
cloth or paper on which the powder of emery is spread and glued for scouring and polishing.
–
Emery wheel
,
a wheel containing emery, or having a surface of emery. In machine shops, it is sometimes called a
buff wheel
, and by the manufacturers of cutlery, a
glazer
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Emery

EM'ERY

,
Noun.
[Gr. and L. smiris.] A mineral, said to be a compact variety of corundum, being equal to it in hardness. It is always amorphous; its structure finely granular;its color varying from a deep gray to a bluish or blackish gray, sometimes brownish. This is almost indispensable in polishing metals and hard stones. The lapidaries cut ordinary gems on their wheels, by sprinkling them with the moistened powder of emery; but it will not cut the diamond.

Definition 2024

Emery

Emery

See also: emery

English

Proper noun

Emery

  1. A surname​.
  2. A male given name, today often transferred back from the surname.
  3. A female given name used in the 2000s, also associated with the mineral emery.
  4. A city in South Dakota.
  5. A town in Utah.
  6. A town in Wisconsin.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

emery

emery

See also: Emery

English

Noun

emery ‎(uncountable)

  1. (mineralogy) An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing.
    • 1884, Samuel Smiles, Men of Invention and Industry
      It took me from nine to ten days to grind and polish it ready for parabolising and silvering. I did this by hand labour with the aid of emery, but without a lathe. I finally used rouge instead of emery in grinding down the glass, until I could see my face in the mirror quite plain.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

emery ‎(third-person singular simple present emeries, present participle emerying, simple past and past participle emeried)

  1. (transitive) To sand or polish with emery.

Anagrams

Etymology

From medieval Germanic personal names, either a variant of Amory, from Amalric, Proto-Germanic *amal ‎(“vigor, bravery”) + rīhhi ‎(“ruler”), or of Henry, from Heimrich, from heim ‎(“home”) + rīhhi ‎(“ruler”).

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