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IMPURITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The condition of being impure
Synonyms:
impureness; impurity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("impurity" is a kind of...):
condition; status (a state at a particular time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "impurity"):
adulteration; debasement (being mixed with extraneous material; the product of adulterating)
admixture; alloy (the state of impairing the quality or reducing the value of something)
contamination; taint (the state of being contaminated)
dirtiness (the state of containing dirty impurities)
putridity (the state of being putrid)
pollution (undesirable state of the natural environment being contaminated with harmful substances as a consequence of human activities)
Antonym:
purity (being undiluted or unmixed with extraneous material)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Worthless or dangerous material that should be removed
Example:
there were impurities in the water
Synonyms:
dross; impurity
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("impurity" is a kind of...):
waste; waste material; waste matter; waste product (any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted)
Derivation:
impure (combined with extraneous elements)
Context examples:
In purification of drinking water, aluminum sulfate acts as a flocculating agent which causes impurities to coagulate and sediment, so that they are easily removed by filtration.
(Aluminum Sulfate, NCI Thesaurus)
You will learn from Poole how I have had London ransacked; it was in vain; and I am now persuaded that my first supply was impure, and that it was that unknown impurity which lent efficacy to the draught.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Mr. Darcy may perhaps have heard of such a place as Gracechurch Street, but he would hardly think a month's ablution enough to cleanse him from its impurities, were he once to enter it; and depend upon it, Mr. Bingley never stirs without him.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The term does not apply to macromolecular compounds like albumin, or compounds like amino acids and sugars that are used in biological products, nor does it apply to process or product-related impurities (e.g. degradation products, residual solvents), or extraneous contaminants.
(Pharmaceutical Excipient, NCI Thesaurus)
A transparent, beryllium-containing, naturally occurring mineral that forms distinctive hexagonal crystals in a variety of colors due to different impurities that emits toxic fumes of beryllium oxides upon heating and is colorless in its pure form.
(Beryl Ore, NCI Thesaurus)
Issue associated with the undesired introduction of impurities to a device, or the insufficient removal of any visible soil, foreign material or organism deposits on the external surfaces, crevices, and joints of a device by a mechanical and/or manual process intended to render the device sterile, safe for handling, and/or for further processes to decontaminate.
(Cleaning Disinfecting or Sterilization Problem during Medical Device Use, Food and Drug Administration)
Jewelers have known for centuries that impurities in diamonds produce different colors.
(Key Tech for Quantum Communications Offered by Implanting Diamonds with Flaws, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
During the process, they added boron atoms, which have the effect of crowding out other impurities that could spoil the neutral charge.
(Key Tech for Quantum Communications Offered by Implanting Diamonds with Flaws, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Silicon vacancies in theory should be electrically neutral, but it turns out other nearby impurities can contribute electrical charges to the defect.
(Key Tech for Quantum Communications Offered by Implanting Diamonds with Flaws, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Next, the researchers implanted silicon ions into the diamond, and then heated the diamonds to high temperatures to remove other impurities that could also donate charges.
(Key Tech for Quantum Communications Offered by Implanting Diamonds with Flaws, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
