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Webster 1913 Edition


Flint glass

Flint′ glassˊ

.
(Chem.)
A soft, heavy, brilliant glass, consisting essentially of a silicate of lead and potassium. It is used for tableware, and for optical instruments, as prisms, its density giving a high degree of dispersive power; – so called, because formerly the silica was obtained from pulverized flints. Called also
crystal glass
. Cf.
Glass
.
☞ The concave or diverging half on an achromatic lens is usually made of flint glass.