diabase
Americannoun
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a fine-grained gabbro occurring as minor intrusions.
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British. a dark igneous rock consisting essentially of augite and feldspar; an altered dolerite.
noun
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an altered dolerite
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another name for dolerite
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A dark-gray to black, medium-grained igneous rock consisting mainly of labradorite and pyroxene. Diabase is compositionally similar to andesite, but has coarser grains. It is commonly found in sills and dikes.
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Also called dolerite
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diabase
1810–20; < French, equivalent to dia- (error for di- two) + base base 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At Carrock Fell, N.E. of Skiddaw, is an extremely interesting complex of volcanic rocks, and in many other places are diabase and other forms, e.g. the well-known rock at Castle Head, Keswick.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various
The terms diabase and dolerite are employed really to designate distinct facies of the same set of rocks.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 3 "Destructors" to "Diameter" by Various
Numerous rounded diabase bowlders, varying in size from a few inches to several feet in diameter, are also scattered over the surface of the soil.
From History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia by James William Head
Away from the ranges, the bowlders are generally of some crystalline rock, such as granite and diabase.
From The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin by Wallace W. Atwood
The ore minerals are believed to have been deposited by hot solutions emanating from deep magmatic sources after the intrusion of the diabase.
From The Economic Aspect of Geology by C. K. (Charles Kenneth) Leith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
