Zeolite

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Zeolite \Ze"o*lite\, n. [Gr. ? to boil + -lite: cf. F.
     z['e]olithe.] (Min.)
     A term now used to designate any one of a family of minerals,
     hydrous silicates of alumina, with lime, soda, potash, or
     rarely baryta. Here are included natrolite, stilbite,
     analcime, chabazite, thomsonite, heulandite, and others.


     These species occur of secondary origin in the cavities of
     amygdaloid, basalt, and lava, also, less frequently, in
     granite and gneiss. So called because many of these species
     intumesce before the blowpipe.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Needle zeolite}, needlestone; natrolite.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  zeolite
       n : any of a family of glassy minerals analogous to feldspar
           containing hydrated aluminum silicates of calcium or
           sodium or potassium; formed in cavities in lava flows and
           in plutonic rocks