gypsum

[ jip-suhm ]

/ ˈdʒɪp səm /

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noun

a very common mineral, hydrated calcium sulfate, CaSO4⋅2H2O, occurring in crystals and in masses, soft enough to be scratched by the fingernail: used to make plaster of Paris, as an ornamental material, as a fertilizer, etc.

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Origin of gypsum

1640–50; <Latin: chalk <Greek gýpsos chalk, gypsum

Words nearby gypsum

gypseous, Gypsies, gypsiferous, gypsophila, gypsophile, gypsum, gypsum board, gypsum plaster, gypsy, gypsy cab, gypsy capstan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gypsum in a sentence

So before we adapted this variable rate technology, we would drive down a row and we would put a consistent amount of amendments, whether it be gypsum, lime, soil, sulfur, we would apply that amount evenly throughout the entire vineyard block.
How one vineyard is using AI to improve its winemaking|Anthony Green|September 26, 2022|MIT Technology Review
Geologist Carolina Cardell of Spain’s University of Granada first noticed purple stains on the gypsum in 1993, but she and her colleagues didn’t have the tools to understand the splotches back then.
Why once-gold ceilings in Spain’s Alhambra palace have purple stains|Carmen Drahl|September 9, 2022|Science News
Squeeze through slot canyons, marvel at sparkling walls coated with gypsum, and meander through immense underground tunnels.
Mammoth Cave National Park Is Spooky yet Stunning|tzemke|July 29, 2022|Outside Online
Hae Won Sohn uses gypsum cement to construct small abstract sculptures that resemble rock and bone.
In the galleries: Photos capture a fleeting moment, leave an indelible impression|Mark Jenkins|September 10, 2021|Washington Post

Workers dumped 11,000 tons of gypsum minerals into riverbeds filled with dangerously alkaline sludge to keep it from burning organisms.
5 famous environmental disasters where humans and nature healed together|Meera Subramanian|February 16, 2021|Popular-Science
Fracking, in this regard, is no different from gypsum mining, or some kinds of industrial agriculture.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The sand dunes were relentlessly mined in the past century; power lines and a gypsum plant split the park.
Why Do We Save Some Species and Let Others Get Devastated?|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|May 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It is sometimes mixed with lime or gypsum, and dried with heat, and sometimes with animal charcoal or peat charcoal.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry|Thomas Anderson
"There is an extensive underlying layer of gypsum, here," he said.
The Planet Strappers|Raymond Zinke Gallun
At the top there is a small aperture, which is hermetically closed with gypsum.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests|J. J. von Tschudi
The difficulty of boiling them soft arises from an excess of gypsum imbibed during their growth.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 13, Issue 372, Saturday, May 30, 1829|Various
The gypsum reposing on the mud is composed of plates in such close juxtaposition as to resemble an artificial pavement.
The Desert World|Arthur Mangin

British Dictionary definitions for gypsum

gypsum

/ (ˈdʒɪpsəm) /

noun

a colourless or white mineral sometimes tinted by impurities, found in beds as an evaporite. It is used in the manufacture of plaster of Paris, cement, paint, school chalk, glass, and fertilizer. Composition: hydrated calcium sulphate. Formula: CaSO 4 .2H 2 O. Crystal structure: monoclinic

Derived forms of gypsum

gypseous (ˈdʒɪpsɪəs), adjectivegypsiferous (dʒɪpˈsɪfərəs), adjective

Word Origin for gypsum

C17: from Latin, from Greek gupsos chalk, plaster, cement, of Semitic origin

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

Scientific definitions for gypsum

gypsum

[ jĭp′səm ]

A colorless, white, or pinkish mineral. Gypsum occurs as individual blade-shaped crystals or as massive beds in sedimentary rocks, especially those formed through the evaporation of saline-rich water. It is used in manufacturing plasterboard, cement, and fertilizers. Chemical formula: CaSO4·2H2O.

gypsum

Origin of gypsum

Words nearby gypsum

Words related to gypsum

How to use gypsum in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gypsum

Derived forms of gypsum

Word Origin for gypsum

Scientific definitions for gypsum