Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Asbestos
{
As-bes′tus
,As-bes′tos
(?; 277)
, } Noun.
[L.
asbestos
(NL. asbestus
) a kind of mineral unaffected by fire, Gr. [GREEK] (prop. an adj.) inextinguishable; ἀ
priv. + [GREEK] to extinguish.] (Min.)
A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in long and delicate fibers, or in fibrous masses or seams, usually of a white, gray, or green-gray color. The name is also given to a similar variety of serpentine.
☞ The finer varieties have been wrought into gloves and cloth which are incombustible. The cloth was formerly used as a shroud for dead bodies, and has been recommended for firemen’s clothes. Asbestus in also employed in the manufacture of iron safes, for fireproof roofing, and for lampwicks. Some varieties are called amianthus.
Dana.
Webster 1828 Edition
Asbestos
ASBES'TOS
,Noun.
A mineral, which has frequently the appearance of a vegetable substance. It is always fibrous, and its fibers sometimes appear to be prismatic crystals. They are sometimes delicate, flexible, and elastic; at other times, stiff and brittle. Its powder is soft to the touch; its colors are some shade of white, gray or green, passing into brown, red or black. It is incombustible, and has been wrought into a soft, flexible cloth, which was formerly used as a shroud for dead bodies. It has been also manufactured into incombustible paper, and wicks for lamps.
Ligniform asbestus is a variety of a brown color, of a splintery fracture, and if broken across, presents an irregular filamentous structure, like wood.
Definition 2024
asbestos
asbestos
English
Asbestos fibers.
Noun
asbestos (countable and uncountable, plural asbestoses)
- Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, and chemical filters.
- All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.
- Asbestos insulation was once ubiquitous.
Derived terms
Translations
any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate
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