levigate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder, as in a mortar, with or without the addition of a liquid.
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Chemistry. to make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.
adjective
verb
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(tr) to grind into a fine powder or a smooth paste
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to form or cause to form a homogeneous mixture, as in the production of gels
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(tr) to suspend (fine particles) by grinding in a liquid, esp as a method of separating fine from coarse particles
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of levigate
1605–15; < Latin lēvigātus, past participle of lēvigāre to smooth, pulverize, equivalent to lēv ( is ) smooth + -igāre v. suffix see fumigate, -ate 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.
See Examples For:
Mark first the rationale of the thing: Hear logic rivel and levigate the deed.
From The Book of Humorous Verse by Carolyn Wells
Is levigated talc passed through a silk sieve.
From The Art of Perfumery And Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants by George William Septimus Piesse
Many have imagined that colours vitrified by intense heat are consequently durable when levigated for painting in oil or water.
From Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists by Thomas Salter
It is usually levigated with slab and roller, and made into sour cakes.
From First Footsteps in East Africa by Sir Richard Francis Burton
But whereas the Nile-peoples pounded the stone in mortars and washed the dust on sloping boards, here the matrix must be laboriously levigated.
From To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II A Personal Narrative by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Moreover much of the finest levigated earth is washed completely away from the castings.
From The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms, with observations on their habits by Charles Darwin
This process consists in finely pulverizing the soil or rock, and levigating it in vessels of water.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various
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