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devitrify

[ dee-vi-truh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, de·vit·ri·fied, de·vit·ri·fy·ing.
  1. Chemistry. to deprive, wholly or partly, of vitreous character or properties.


verb (used without object)

, de·vit·ri·fied, de·vit·ri·fy·ing.
  1. Petrology. (of a volcanic rock or particle) to undergo a change in texture from glassy to crystalline.

devitrify

/ diːˈvɪtrɪˌfaɪ /

verb

  1. to change from a vitreous state to a crystalline state
  2. to lose or cause to lose the properties of a glass and become brittle and opaque
“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
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Derived Forms

  • deˌvitrifiˈcation, noun
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Other Words From

  • de·vitri·fia·ble adjective
  • de·vitri·fi·cation noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of devitrify1

First recorded in 1825–35; de- + vitrify
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Example Sentences

Poor glass, badly prepared window-glass, and glass which has been subjected to strain tend to devitrify on exposure to air, some of the ingredients separating in a crystalline form.

Good glass does not readily devitrify when held in the blow-pipe flame.

Bad soda-glass or that which has been kept for many years, tends to devitrify when worked.

Long-buried glassy lavas devitrify, or pass to a stony condition, under the unceasing action of underground waters; but their flow lines and perlitic and spherulitic structures remain to tell of their original state.

If either of these precautions are neglected most glass will devitrify badly.

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