phosphoresce
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
Etymology
Origin of phosphoresce
First recorded in 1785–95; phosphor(us) + -esce
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.
He found that many organisms phosphoresce under ultraviolet light, so he created dramatic Technicolor images of the teeming biodiversity on the forest floor.
From New York Times
Small animals in the water, microscopic organisms, sometimes phosphoresced—gave off light almost like lightning bugs—when disturbed.
From Literature
Ian Kennedy, a mechanical engineer at the University of California, Davis, is using combustion to make nanoparticles that contain europium, an exotic and expensive element that phosphoresces strongly.
From Nature
Becquerel noted that carbon phosphoresces at a certain elevated temperature preceding the dark red.
From Project Gutenberg
Thou so picturest thyself before me, that I cannot see the phosphorescing nimbus of the earth glimmer and smoke behind thee!
From Project Gutenberg
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.
