sympathetic ink
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of sympathetic ink
First recorded in 1715–25
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.
The truth of Christianity," he said, "was all written in us already in sympathetic ink.
From Thomas Carlyle by Nichol, John
You've heard what I confess: I don't unsay A single word: I cheated when I could, Rapped with my toe-joints, set sham hands at work, Wrote down names weak in sympathetic ink.
From Robert Browning by Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
A red sympathetic ink may be made in the following manner: Write with a very dilute solution of perchloride of iron—so dilute, indeed, that the writing will be invisible when dry.
I could only see the vague figures that grew and faded upon the haze, as my eye fell upon them, like the intermittent characters of sympathetic ink when heat touches them.
From Prue and I by Curtis, George William
Cobalt, dissolved in aqua regia, makes an excellent sympathetic ink, appearing green when held to the fire, and disappearing when cold, unless it has been heated too much, when it burns the paper.
From Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry by Priestley, Joseph
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.
