Bunsen burner

American  

noun

1. a type of gas burner, commonly used in chemical laboratories, with which a very hot, practically nonluminous flame is obtained by allowing air to enter at the base and mix with the gas.

---

Bunsen burner British  

/ ˈbʌnsən /

noun

1. a gas burner, widely used in scientific laboratories, consisting of a metal tube with an adjustable air valve at the base

---

Bunsen burner Scientific  

1. A small gas burner used in laboratories. It consists of a vertical metal tube connected to a gas fuel source, with adjustable holes at its base. These holes allow air to enter the tube and mix with the gas in order to make a very hot flame.

---

Etymology

Origin of Bunsen burner

First recorded in 1865–70; named after R. W. Bunsen

Example Sentences

He holds a glass tube over a bunsen burner, twirling it constantly, blows through the molten glass, and turns it into a sphere.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2012

But now he is close to retirement, and when he switches off his bunsen burner for good there will be no more glass eye makers in Britain.

From BBC • Feb. 24, 2012

Afterwards incinerate over a bunsen burner, and weigh the ash.

From Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by Sanford, P. Gerald (Percy Gerald)

Heat the capillary portion near the free extremity in the by-pass flame of the bunsen burner and draw it out into a very fine hair-like tube and break this across.

From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)

To detect these mordants a piece of the swatch should be burnt in a porcelain or platinum crucible over a bunsen burner, care being taken that all carbonaceous matter be burnt off.

From The Dyeing of Woollen Fabrics by Beech, Franklin