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Webster 1913 Edition
Quicksilver
Quick′silˊver
,Noun.
[]
Quick
living + silver
; – so called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber
, L. argentum vivum
. See Quick
, Adj.
(Chem.)
The metal mercury; – so called from its resemblance to liquid silver.
Quicksilver horizon
, a mercurial artificial horizon. See under
– Horizon
. Quicksilver water
, a solution of mercury nitrate used in artificial silvering; quick water.
Webster 1828 Edition
Quicksilver
QUICK'SILVER
,Noun.
Mercury, a metal found both native and in the state of ore, in mines, in various parts of the world, and so remarkably fusible as to be congealable only with the intense cold indicated by 39 degrees or 40 degrees below zero, on Fahrenheit's thermometer. It is the heaviest of the metals, next to platina and gold. It is used in various arts and in medicine.
Definition 2024
quicksilver
quicksilver
English
Noun
quicksilver (uncountable)
- The metal mercury.
- (colloquial) An amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors, quicksilvering.
Quotations
- For usage examples of this term, see Citations:quicksilver.
Synonyms
- (the metal mercury): mercury, hydrargyrum
Derived terms
terms derived from quicksilver
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Translations
mercury
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amalgam used on mirrors
Adjective
quicksilver (not comparable)
- Unpredictable, erratic or fickle; mercurial.
- 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the title of the work):
- The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence.
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Verb
quicksilver (third-person singular simple present quicksilvers, present participle quicksilvering, simple past and past participle quicksilvered)