quicksilver
Use Quicksilver in a sentence
vər noun
1.
the metallic element mercury.
verb (used with object)
2.
to amalgamate (metal) with mercury.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English qwyksilver, Old English cwicseolfor (translation Latin argentum vīvum) literally, living silver
before 1000; Middle English qwyksilver, Old English cwicseolfor (translation Latin argentum vīvum) literally, living silver
Related forms
quick·sil·ver·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To quicksilver
Collins
World English Dictionary
quicksilver (ˈkwɪkˌsɪlvə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | another name for mercury |
| —adj | |
| 2. | rapid or unpredictable in movement or change: a quicksilver temper |
| [Old English, from cwicu alive (see | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Quicksilver
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
quicksilver
O.E. cwicseolfor, translating L. argentum vivum (cf. It. argento vivo), lit. "living silver;" so called from its liquid mobility. See quick + silver.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Example sentences
He moves with quicksilver wit, technical brilliance and crystalline clarity.
It is an extremely heavy metal with a silvery-white color that accounts for the name quicksilver that is often given to it.
His face, for all its quicksilver changes of expression, remains essentially opaque.
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