alkaline-earth metal
[ al-kuh-lahyn-urth, -lin- ]
/ ˈæl kəˌlaɪnˈɜrθ, -lɪn- /
noun Chemistry.
any of the group of bivalent metals including barium, radium, strontium, calcium, and, usually, magnesium, the hydroxides of which are alkalis but less soluble than those of the alkali metals.
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Nearby words
- alkaline earths,
- alkaline phosphatase,
- alkaline soil,
- alkaline tide,
- alkaline-ash diet,
- alkaline-earth metals,
- alkalinity,
- alkalinuria,
- alkalize,
- alkaloid
Origin of alkaline-earth metal
First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
alkaline-earth metal
n.
Any of a group of metallic elements including calcium, strontium, magnesium, barium, beryllium, and radium.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
alkaline-earth metal
Any of a group of metallic elements that includes beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium. Because the alkaline-earth metals have two electrons in their outer shell, they react easily with other elements and are found in nature only in compounds. See Periodic Table.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.