tungsten carbide

American  

noun

1. a very hard, black or gray compound of tungsten and carbon, used in the manufacture of cutting and abrasion tools, dies, and wear-resistant machine parts.

---

tungsten carbide British  

noun

1. a fine very hard crystalline grey powder produced by heating tungsten and carbon to a very high temperature: used in the manufacture of drill bits, dies, etc. Symbol: WC; melting pt: 2870°C

---

tungsten carbide Scientific  

1. An inorganic carbon compound that forms a fine gray powder whose grains are dense and extremely hard. Tungsten carbide is used in tools, dies, wear-resistant machine parts, and abrasives. Chemical formula: WC.

---

Etymology

Origin of tungsten carbide

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tungsten carbide

The material combines tungsten carbide, which provides hardness, with cobalt, which acts as a metallic binder that holds the carbide particles together.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

The roughly $600 million investment will be made with Element Six, a synthetic diamond and tungsten carbide supermaterials company that is a subsidiary of De Beers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

"There's been no clear understanding of the surface structure of tungsten carbide because it's really difficult to measure the catalytic surface inside the chambers where these chemical reactions take place," she says.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026

The Ultrahuman Ring comes in four colors and is made from titanium with a tungsten carbide coating.

From The Verge ● Jul. 6, 2022

The difference is that, in this case, the stronger fibers are borazon—boron nitride formed under tremendous pressure—while the softer matrix is composed of tungsten carbide.

From Thin Edge by Randall Garrett