thermite

[ thur-mahyt ]

noun

1. a mixture of finely-divided metallic aluminum and ferric oxide that when ignited produces extremely high temperatures as the result of the union of the aluminum with the oxygen of the oxide: used in welding, incendiary bombs, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of thermite¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; therm- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

According to the indictment, Allison and Humber worked together with others to create, edit and disseminate a digital publication known as “The Hard Reset,” which provided instructions for making bombs and explosives, including napalm, thermite, chlorine gas, pipe bombs and dirty bombs.

From Los Angeles Times

“Chris thought it was just too literal,” says Jackson, who soon discovered a more compelling chain-reaction dramatization courtesy of thermite, a simple compound made from aluminum powder and iron oxide.

From Los Angeles Times

“To contain the reaction, we set a flower pot on a stand and covered the hole at the bottom. Once the thermite turned into molten iron, it burned through that hole and poured into a sandbox below, so you had droplets of molten iron hitting the surface and exploding. It was magnificent and incredibly bright. We were all blown away.”

From Los Angeles Times

Three days later fellow group member Dean Morrice purchased materials that could be combined to make thermite.

From BBC

Brown recorded a 30-second video on 22 March 2020, in which his Amazon Alexa speaker responded to his question - "how do I make thermite?"

From BBC