Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,908,111,896 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

meerschaum
(redirected from meerschaums)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

meerschaum

Fibrous hydrated magnesium silicate that is opaque and white, gray, or cream in colour. Also called sepiolite, meerschaum (German: “sea foam”) is easily fashioned, and has been used in jewelry and for tobacco pipes. It is soft when first extracted, but it hardens on drying. Meerschaum is an alteration product of serpentine. The most important commercial deposit is the plain of Eskisehir, Tur., where it is found as irregular nodules in alluvial deposits; it also occurs in France, Greece, the Czech Republic, the U.S., and elsewhere.


meerschaum
1. a white, yellowish, or pink compact earthy mineral consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate: used to make tobacco pipes and as a building stone. Formula: Mg2Si3O6(OH)4
2. a tobacco pipe having a bowl made of this mineral

meerschaum [′mir‚shȯm]
(mineralogy)


Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
He had one of those cute little shops that smell like a humidor and are hung with impressive ranges of ornamental meerschaums and multicoloured pipe-cleaners.
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.