sil·i·cate

[sil-i-kit, -keyt]
noun
1.
Mineralogy. any of the largest group of mineral compounds, as quartz, beryl, garnet, feldspar, mica, and various kinds of clay, consisting of SiO 2 or SiO 4 groupings and one or more metallic ions, with some forms containing hydrogen. Silicates constitute well over 90 percent of the rock-forming minerals of the earth's crust.
2.
Chemistry. any salt derived from the silicic acids or from silica.

Origin:
1805–15; silic(a) + -ate2

sil·i·ca·tion [sil-i-key-shuhn] , noun
non·sil·i·cate, noun
sub·sil·i·cate, noun
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World English Dictionary
silicate (ˈsɪlɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
a salt or ester of silicic acid, esp one of a large number of usually insoluble salts with polymeric negative ions having a structure formed of tetrahedrons of SiO4 groups linked in rings, chains, sheets, or three dimensional frameworks. Silicates constitute a large proportion of the earth's minerals and are present in cement and glass

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00:10
Silicate is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

silicate sil·i·cate (sĭl'ĭ-kāt', -kĭt)
n.
Any of numerous compounds containing silicon, oxygen, and one or more metals; a salt of silicic acid.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
silicate   (sĭl'ĭ-kāt')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Any of a large class of chemical compounds composed of silicon, oxygen, and at least one metal. Most rocks and minerals are silicates.

  2. Any mineral containing the group SiO4, either isolated, or joined to other groups in chains, sheets, or three-dimensional groups with metal elements. Micas and feldspars are silicate minerals.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
They are too cool to have silicate clouds, but too warm for water clouds.
Rather than silicate rocks, they'd have carbonaceous ones.
Plagioclase feldspars are yet another silicate that contains considerable
  sodium or calcium.
The older they are the darker they become because they get coated with darker
  silicate material from meteoroids.
Image for silicate
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