Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

liquate

American  
[lahy-kweyt] / ˈlaɪ kweɪt /

verb (used with object)

liquated, liquating
  1. to heat (an alloy or mixture) sufficiently to melt the more fusible matter and thus to separate it from the rest, as in the refining of tin.


verb (used without object)

liquated, liquating
  1. to become separated by such a fusion (often followed byout ).

liquate British  
/ ˈlaɪkweɪt /

verb

  1. to separate one component of (an alloy, impure metal, or ore) by heating so that the more fusible part melts

"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

Other Word Forms

  • liquation noun

Etymology

Origin of liquate

1660–70; < Latin liquātus, past participle of liquāre to liquefy, melt. See liquid, -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.

Your fiancé is correct in refusing to liquate his savings account to pay his student loans.

From Slate

Liquate, lik′wāt, v.t. to melt: to separate one metal from another which is less fusible, by applying sufficient heat.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

The lead which these cakes liquate, when they are melted in the furnace, weighs about nine centumpondia, in each centumpondium of which there is a quarter of a libra and more than a sicilicus of silver; and seven unciae of silver remain in the exhausted liquation cakes and in the liquation thorns.

From Project Gutenberg

The fundamental principle of the process is that if a copper-lead alloy, containing a large excess of lead, be heated in a reducing atmosphere, above the melting point of lead but below that of copper, the lead will liquate out and carry with it a large proportion of the silver.

From Project Gutenberg

However, notwithstanding the use of cupro-manganese, the tin, as in ordinary bronzes, has a tendency to liquate in those portions of the mould which are the hottest, and which become solid the last, especially in the case of moulds having a great width.

From Project Gutenberg