silica
pronunciation
How to pronounce silica in British English:
UK [ˈsɪlɪkə]
How to pronounce silica in American English:
US [ˈsɪlɪkə]
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- Noun:
- a white or colorless vitreous insoluble solid (SiO2); various forms occur widely in the earth's crust as quartz or cristobalite or tridymite or lechartelierite
Word Origin
- silica (n.)
- "hard silicon dioxide," 1801, Modern Latin, from Latin silex (genitive silicis) "flint, pebble," on model of alumina, soda.
Example
- 1. But a new hydrate mineral has now entered the picture : hydrated silica , commonly known as opal .
- 2. Diatoms already secrete silica by exocytosis-a biological process by which cells direct secreted material outside the cell walls .
- 3. The colorful effect is due to the diatom 's silica cell wall , which encases the organism like a glassy shell .
- 4. Waelz slag , to give its technical name , is composed mainly of silica but is also undesirably rich in poisonous metals like lead and zinc .
- 5. The fluid that armour holdings developed is a liquid polymer containing nano-engineered particles of silica , though bae is coy about the details of what it is using .