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devitrify
[ dee-vi-truh-fahy ]
verb (used with object)
- Chemistry. to deprive, wholly or partly, of vitreous character or properties.
verb (used without object)
- Petrology. (of a volcanic rock or particle) to undergo a change in texture from glassy to crystalline.
devitrify
/ diːˈvɪtrɪˌfaɪ /
verb
- to change from a vitreous state to a crystalline state
- to lose or cause to lose the properties of a glass and become brittle and opaque
Derived Forms
- deˌvitrifiˈcation, noun
Other Words From
- de·vitri·fia·ble adjective
- de·vitri·fi·cation noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of devitrify1
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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