any of a number of substances that exhibit luminescence when struck by light of certain wavelengths, as by ultraviolet.
Literary. a phosphorescent substance.
Any of various substances that can emit light after absorbing some form of radiation. Television screens and fluorescent lamp tubes are coated on the inside with phosphors.
See Note at cathode-ray tube
1625–35; < French phosphore < Latin Phōsphorus Phosphor
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin Phōsphorus, from Greek Phōsphóros “the morning star,” literally, “the light-bringing one,” equivalent to phôs “light” + -phoros “bringing”; see -phorous
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This performance is 5.6 times as high as that observed in previous studies using the same phosphor.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2024
When the blue light from the diodes goes through this layer, the phosphor absorbs some of the blue wavelengths and spits out red and yellow ones.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 27, 2023
A byproduct of private and industrial food consumption and processing, sludge and compost can replace some of the nitrogen and phosphor from synthetic fertilizers.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2022
For example, he says, CMI developed a red phosphor for fluorescent lighting that does not require rare europium.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 11, 2021
Another long pause as they both peered at the gloom with her phosphor green paint lighting.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Furthermore, one of the mobile developers in the Partners programme, Phosphor Games, is creating an action fantasy title named Horn, clearly aimed at the dedicated gaming audience.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 2, 2012
Phosphorus is known to enter into the composition of the human brain, and a trenchant German writer has exclaimed, “Ohne Phosphor, kein Gedanke.”
From The Voice of Science in Nineteenth-Century Literature Representative Prose and Verse by Various
The brilliant Phosphor of a brighter day Too soon in night is passed for aye away!
From John Patrick, Third Marquess of Bute, K.T. A Memoir by Blair, David Hunter
Hesper and Phosphor are simply the one planet Venus, which according to its position with the sun, becomes the morning or evening star.
From A Key to Lord Tennyson's 'In Memoriam' by Gatty, Alfred, Mrs.
However, it is conceded in the family that Phosphor is not a cat merely: he is a person, and Lucifer is a spirit.
From Concerning Cats My Own and Some Others by Winslow, Helen M.
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.
