Adjacent Words

Quartz definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

QUARTZ, n. quortz. A species of silicious minerals, of various colors, white, gray, reddish, yellowish or brownish; commonly amorphous, and frequently crystallized. The subspecies and varieties are numerous.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: colorless glass made of almost pure silica [syn: quartz glass, quartz, vitreous silica, lechatelierite, crystal]
2: a hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in crystal form; present in most rocks (especially sandstone and granite); yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide impurities

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: German Quarz Date: circa 1631 1. a mineral consisting of silicon dioxide occurring in colorless and transparent or colored hexagonal crystals or in crystalline masses 2. a quartz crystal that when placed in an electric field oscillates at a constant frequency and is used to control devices which require precise regulation <a quartz watch> • quartzose adjective

Britannica Concise

Second most abundant mineral (after feldspar) in the earth's crust, present in many rocks. Quartz, which consists of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), has great economic importance. Many varieties are gemstones, incl. amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, and rose quartz. Sandstone, composed mainly of quartz, is an important building stone. Large amounts of quartz sand (or silica sand) are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics and for molds in metal casting. Crushed quartz is used as an abrasive in sandpaper; silica sand is employed in sandblasting; and sandstone is used whole to make whetstones, millstones, and grindstones. Silica glass (or fused quartz) is used in optics to transmit ultraviolet light. Tubing and various vessels of fused quartz have important laboratory applications, and quartz fibers are employed in extremely sensitive weighing devices.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a mineral form of silica that crystallizes as hexagonal prisms. Phrases and idioms: quartz clock a clock operated by vibrations of an electrically driven quartz crystal. quartz lamp a quartz tube containing mercury vapour and used as a light source. Etymology: G Quarz f. WSlav. kwardy

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Quartz Quartz, n. [G. quarz.] (Min.) A form of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring in hexagonal crystals, which are commonly colorless and transparent, but sometimes also yellow, brown, purple, green, and of other colors; also in cryptocrystalline massive forms varying in color and degree of transparency, being sometimes opaque. Note: The crystalline varieties include: amethyst, violet; citrine and false topaz, pale yellow; rock crystal, transparent and colorless or nearly so; rose quartz, rosecolored; smoky quartz, smoky brown. The chief crypto-crystalline varieties are: agate, a chalcedony in layers or clouded with different colors, including the onyx and sardonyx; carnelian and sard, red or flesh-colored chalcedony; chalcedony, nearly white, and waxy in luster; chrysoprase, an apple-green chalcedony; flint, hornstone, basanite, or touchstone, brown to black in color and compact in texture; heliotrope, green dotted with red; jasper, opaque, red yellow, or brown, colored by iron or ferruginous clay; prase, translucent and dull leek-green. Quartz is an essential constituent of granite, and abounds in rocks of all ages. It forms the rocks quartzite (quartz rock) and sandstone, and makes most of the sand of the seashore.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Quartz is a mineral in the form of a hard, shiny crystal. It is used in making electronic equipment and very accurate watches and clocks. ...a quartz crystal. N-UNCOUNT: oft N n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Silex, silica.