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Ivory

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ivory

1. 
a. a hard smooth creamy white variety of dentine that makes up a major part of the tusks of elephants, walruses, and similar animals
b. (as modifier): ivory ornaments
2. a tusk made of ivory
3. 
a. a yellowish-white colour; cream
b. (as adjective): ivory shoes
4. black ivory Obsolete Black slaves collectively

Ivory

James. born 1928, US film director. With the producer Ismael Merchant, his films include Shakespeare Wallah (1964), Heat and Dust (1983), A Room With a View (1986), and The Golden Bowl (2000)
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ivory

[′īv·rē]
(materials)
The ivory-white material composing the tusks and teeth of the elephant; specific gravity is 1.87; takes a high polish and is used for ornamental parts and art objects, and formerly for piano keys.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Ivory

soap 99.44% pure. [Trademarks: Crowley Trade, 289]
See: Purity
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Ivory

 

the tooth substance, or dentin, that composes the tusks of elephants (African elephant, Indian elephant, and mastodon). Ivory is a valuable manufacturing material. Durable and homogeneous, it is characteristically white with a yellowish cast. Ivory yields well to carving, grinding, and polishing; after plasticization it can be bent, so that it can be formed into sheets up to 0.4 m wide. The best-quality ivory is exported from Africa (tusks reaching a length of 3 m and a weight of 100 kg) and India (tusks reaching a length of 2.5 m long and a weight of 75 kg). Ivory is highly valued on the international market.

In the USSR many mastodon tusks have been found in northeastern Siberia in layers of permafrost. Since ancient times ivory has been used to make ornaments, as well as objects for everyday and religious use. Ivory is also used in industry. The teeth of sperm whales and the tusks of narwhals and walruses may be used as ivory.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
A SCOTS auction house were fined PS1500 yesterday for trying to sell elephant ivory.
Japan, which said the policy would go into effect in November, confirmed multiple reports that ivory was smuggled into China despite international rules banning cross-border trade.
The international trade in ivory has been banned since 1990 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty signed by most countries.
Dubai: The General Department of Airports Security at Dubai Police has handed over 2,272 pieces of seized ivory, weighing 1,346kg, to the Ministry of Environment and Water for destruction.
Officials searched a sealed container and seized more than 1,000 pieces of ivory weighing nearly 3.5 tonnes.
They are among countries that were required by CITES to develop National Ivory Action Plans and report on their implementation of those plans.
Avaaz said nearly all of the 109 ivory pieces it bought in 10 EU countries were found to be illegal after they were tested at Britain's Oxford University.
The Government is proposing new laws to ban the sale of ivory items of all ages, with only a few "narrowly defined" exemptions, as part of efforts to protect elephants from poaching.
Ivory forcibly entered a home on the 200 block of Linn Court early Wednesday morning, struck the victim and stole a cellphone and $150 cash before fleeing, police said.
Mr Hanson attended an event at Westminster organised by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Endangered Species to highlight the elephant poaching crisis and public support for a UK ivory ban.
The UK wants to be a world leader in tackling the illegal wildlife trade and tough laws can end UK ivory markets once and for all.
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