asbestos

asbestos
The commercial product, after mining and processing, obtained from a family of fibrous hydrated silicates divided mineralogically into amphiboles (amosite, anthrophyllite, and crocidolite) and serpentines (chrysotile); it is virtually insoluble and is used to provide tensile strength and moldability, thermal insulation, and resistance to fire, heat, and corrosion; inhalation of a. particles can cause asbestosis, pleural plaques, pleural fibrosis, pleural effusion, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. [G. unquenchable; so called in the erroneous belief that when heated, it could not be quenched]

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as·bes·tos as-'bes-təs, az- n any of several minerals that readily separate into long flexible fibers, that have been implicated as causes of certain cancers, and that have been used esp. formerly as fireproof insulating materials

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as·bes·tos (as-besґtəs) [Gr. asbestos unquenchable] any of several fibrous, incombustible materials, forms of magnesium and calcium silicate, used as thermal insulation; the two major types are amphibole a. and serpentine a. Its dust causes asbestosis and acts as an epigenetic carcinogen for pleural mesothelioma and possibly bronchogenic carcinoma.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Asbestos — Administration Pays  Canada Province …   Wikipédia en Français

  • asbestos — [as bes′təs, azbes′təs] n. [ME asbestus < L asbestos < Gr, inextinguishable < a , not + sbestos < sbennynai, to extinguish: first applied in Gr & L to unslaked lime or a mineral other than asbestos] any of several grayish minerals, as …   English World dictionary

  • asbestos — (n.) 1650s, earlier albeston, abestus (c.1100), name of a fabulous stone, which, set afire, could not be extinguished; from O.Fr. abeste, abestos, from L. asbestos quicklime (which burns when cold water is poured on it), from Gk. asbestos, lit.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • asbestos — n. A silicate mineral that resists heat and can be woven into fire resistant material. The Essential Law Dictionary. Sphinx Publishing, An imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. Amy Hackney Blackwell. 2008 …   Law dictionary

  • Asbestos — v. du Canada (Québec); 6 480 hab. Importante mine d amiante …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • ASBESTOS — lapis ferrei coloris, qui accensus semel exstingui nequitur; eum Arcadia mittit, Solin. c. 7. In montibus Arcadiae nasci, Plin. l. 37. c. 10. habet. Qui idem Asbesti lini meminit quod in desertis adustisque Sole Indiae nasei prodit, sed rarum… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • asbestos — ► NOUN ▪ a highly heat resistant fibrous silicate mineral, used in fire resistant and insulating materials. ORIGIN from Greek, unquenchable …   English terms dictionary

  • Asbestos — For other uses, see Asbestos (disambiguation). Fibrous asbestos on muscovite …   Wikipedia

  • asbestos — asbestine /as bes tin, az /, asbestous, adj. asbestoid, asbestoidal, adj. /as bes teuhs, az /, n. 1. Mineral. a fibrous mineral, either amphibole or chrysotile, formerly used for making incombustible or fireproof articles. 2. a fabric woven from… …   Universalium

  • Asbestos — Asbestus As*bes tus, Asbestos As*bes tos (?; 277), n. [L. asbestos (NL. asbestus) a kind of mineral unaffected by fire, Gr. ? (prop. an adj.) inextinguishable; a priv. + ? to extinguish.] (Min.) A variety of amphibole or of pyroxene, occurring in …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • asbestos — [14] Originally, the word we now know as asbestos was applied in the Middle Ages to a mythical stone which, once set alight, could never be put out; it came from the Greek compound ásbestos, literally ‘inextinguishable’, which was formed from the …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

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