phosphate
[fos-feyt]
- Chemistry.
- (loosely) a salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
- a tertiary salt of orthophosphoric acid, as sodium phosphate.
- Agriculture. a fertilizing material containing compounds of phosphorus.
- a carbonated drink of water and fruit syrup containing a little phosphoric acid.
Show More
Origin of phosphate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for phosphate
Contemporary Examples of phosphate
Until a year ago, phosphate mining had left gashes up to dozens of meters deep here.
Historical Examples of phosphate
After the phosphate is reduced to powder, it is mixed with acid.
Manures and the principles of manuringCharles Morton Aikman
What the birds required was phosphate of lime, and the bones gave them that.
The Land of the KangarooThomas Wallace Knox
Maybe it was only the name of a man, or a grass, or a sort of phosphate.
Old JunkH. M. Tomlinson
If the phosphate of lime in the manure, containing 40 per cent.
The Stock-Feeder's ManualCharles Alexander Cameron
On the other hand, there are phosphate compounds that act as poisons.
phosphate
- any salt or ester of any phosphoric acid, esp a salt of orthophosphoric acid
- (often plural) any of several chemical fertilizers containing phosphorous compounds
Show More
Word Origin for phosphate
C18: from French phosphat; see phosphorus, -ate 1
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
Word Origin and History for phosphate
a salt of phosphoric acid, 1795, from French phosphate (1787), from phosphore (see phosphorus) + -ate (3).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
phosphate
(fŏs′fāt′)- A salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
Show More
- Containing the trivalent radical PO4.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
phosphate
[fŏs′fāt′]
- A salt or ester of phosphoric acid, containing the group PO4. Phosphates are important in metabolism and are frequently used in fertilizers.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.