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impactite

American  
[im-pak-tahyt, im-pak-tahyt] / ɪmˈpæk taɪt, ˈɪm pækˌtaɪt /

noun

  1. a glassy or crystalline material composed of slag and meteoric materials, produced by the impact of a meteorite striking the earth.

Etymology

Origin of impactite

First recorded in 1935–40; impact + -ite 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.

While it is now completely buried under the overlying lake, geologists were able to determine its presence by studying the impactite rocks in the area.

From Time • Jun. 30, 2016

If it happens to hit the earth, it blasts a crater many miles across, sometimes melting nearby rock and spewing out slaglike material called impactite.

From Time Magazine Archive

An impactite from Tasmania is 700,000 years old, the same age as tektites found in Australia, Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

From Time Magazine Archive

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.