crystalline
[kris-tl-in, -ahyn, -een]
- of or like crystal; clear; transparent.
- formed by crystallization.
- composed of crystals.
- pertaining to crystals or their formation.
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Origin of crystalline
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for crystalline
Contemporary Examples
Soon enough, I felt my own guts rebelling and stepped out into the crystalline Andean night.
They slowed, and the rushing sound gave way to a hush that made the crystalline tranquillity complete.
He was crystalline clear about the example set by his father.
Historical Examples
The pure carbide is a colorless, transparent, crystalline substance.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
They are while crystalline solids and are poisonous in character.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
The ground was encrusted with sulphur and crystalline concretions.
In Search of the CastawaysJules Verne
Sulphur is known in two general forms, crystalline and amorphous.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
It is not the crystalline lens of your eyes which is sorry, when you cry?
The Crown of Wild OliveJohn Ruskin
crystalline
- having the characteristics or structure of crystals
- consisting of or containing crystals
- made of or like crystal; transparent; clear
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for crystalline
adj.
late 14c., from Old French cristalin "like crystal" (Modern French crystallin), from Latin crystallinus, from Greek krystallinos "of crystal," from krystallos (see crystal).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
crystalline
(krĭs′tə-lĭn, -līn′, -lēn′)- Being, relating to, or composed of crystal or crystals.
- Resembling crystal, as in transparency or distinctness of structure or outline.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
crystal
[krĭs′təl]
- A homogenous solid formed by a repeating, three-dimensional pattern of atoms, ions, or molecules and having smooth external surfaces with characteristic angles between them. Crystals can occur in many sizes and shapes.♦ The particular arrangement in space of these atoms, molecules, or ions, and the way in which they are joined, is called a crystal lattice. There are seven crystal groups or systems. Each is defined on the basis of the geometrical arrangement of the crystal lattice.
- A natural or synthetic material, such as quartz or ceramic, that consists of such crystals. When subjected to mechanical stresses, crystalline materials can generate an electric charge or, when subjected to an electric field, they can generate mechanical vibrations in what is known as the piezoelectric effect.
- An electrical device, such as an oscillator or a diode used for detecting radio signals, made of such a material.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.