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rock crystal

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.15 sec.
rock crystal: see quartz quartz, one of the commonest of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth's crust. Chemically, it is silicon dioxide, SiO2.
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rock crystal

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Rock crystal from the Dauphiné region of France.
(credit: Emil Javorsky/EB Inc.)
Transparent variety of the silica mineral quartz that is valued for its clarity and total lack of colour or flaws. Rock crystal formerly was used extensively as a gemstone, but it has been replaced by glass and plastic; rhinestones originally were quartz pebbles found in the Rhine River. The optical properties of rock crystal led to its use in lenses and prisms; its piezoelectric properties (see piezoelectricity) are used to control the oscillation of electrical circuits.


rock crystal
a pure transparent colourless quartz, used in electronic and optical equipment. Formula: SiO2 FORMULA


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Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal.
Ice confined beneath the earth for a thousand years is transformed into rock crystals.
 
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