sulfur

[ suhl-fer ]

noun

1. Also especially British, Chemistry. a nonmetallic element that exists in several forms, the ordinary one being a yellow rhombic crystalline solid, and that burns with a blue flame and a suffocating odor: used especially in making gunpowder and matches, in medicine, in vulcanizing rubber, etc. : S; : 32.064; : 16; : 2.07 at 20° C.
2. sulphur ( def 2 ).

sulfur

/ ˈsʌlfə /

noun

1. the US preferred spelling of sulphur

sulfur

/ sŭl′fər /

1. A pale-yellow, brittle nonmetallic element that occurs widely in nature, especially in volcanic deposits, minerals, natural gas, and petroleum. It is used to make gunpowder and fertilizer, to vulcanize rubber, and to produce sulfuric acid. Atomic number 16; atomic weight 32.066; melting point (rhombic) 112.8°C; (monoclinic) 119.0°C; boiling point 444.6°C; specific gravity (rhombic) 2.07; (monoclinic) 1.957; valence 2, 4, 6.
2. See Periodic Table

Word History and Origins

Origin of sulfur¹

1300–50; Middle English sulphur < Latin sulpur, sulphur, sulfur brimstone, sulfur

Example Sentences

Their flare systems alone are permitted to torch flammable gases and emit tens of thousands of pounds of noxious sulfur dioxide emissions to avoid pent-up pressure during oil refining.

From Los Angeles Times

Here, you’ll come across the ruins of the White Point Hot Springs Hotel, where guests once lounged in hot sulfur spring-fed swimming pools and shimmied the Charleston on the veranda.

From Los Angeles Times

They showed a surface riddled with dark, reddish-brown cracks; fractures that may contain salts and sulfur compounds that could support life.

From BBC

A mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur, black powder is a type of explosive that can be made simply at home with household products and other chemicals available online.

From Los Angeles Times

The industry’s rocketing number of private and public launches deposit kerosene, carbon and sulfur into the upper atmosphere, where these substances remain longer than they do in the stratosphere.

From Salon