superphosphate

[ soo-per-fos-feyt ]

/ ˌsu pərˈfɒs feɪt /

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noun Chemistry.

Also called acid phosphate. a mixture of calcium acid phosphate and calcium sulfate prepared by treating phosphate rock with sulfuric acid: used chiefly as a fertilizer.

Also called triple superphosphate. a mixture prepared with phosphoric acid and containing about 45 percent of soluble phosphates, used as a fertilizer.

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Origin of superphosphate

First recorded in 1790–1800; super- + phosphate

Words nearby superphosphate

super PAC, superparasite, superparticle, superpatriot, superphone, superphosphate, superphylum, superphysical, superplastic, superport, superpose

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use superphosphate in a sentence

Superphosphate makes dark-colored, thick-leaved, stocky (p. 419) plants.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Good results will also follow an application of bone meal or superphosphate at the rate of from 300 to 500 pounds per acre.
The Practical Garden-Book|C. E. Hunn
Copperas or blue stone, kainite and superphosphate are sometimes used for the same purpose.
The First Book of Farming|Charles L. Goodrich
Superphosphate, in light applications, has increased sod and cover crop growth.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting|Northern Nut Growers Association

When superphosphate is applied to the soil it is converted into an insoluble state.
Manures and the principles of manuring|Charles Morton Aikman

British Dictionary definitions for superphosphate

superphosphate

/ (ˌsuːpəˈfɒsfeɪt) /

noun

a mixture of the diacid calcium salt of orthophosphoric acid Ca(H 2 PO 4) 2 with calcium sulphate and small quantities of other phosphates: used as a fertilizer

a salt of phosphoric acid formed by incompletely replacing its acidic hydrogen atoms; acid phosphate; hydrogen phosphate

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