Consisting of amber; made of amber. "Amber bracelets."
2.
Resembling amber, especially in color; amber-colored. "The amber morn."
noun
Amber n.
1.
(Min.) A yellowish translucent resin resembling copal, found as a fossil in alluvial soils, with beds of lignite, or on the seashore in many places. It takes a fine polish, and is used for pipe mouthpieces, beads, etc., and as a basis for a fine varnish. By friction, it becomes strongly electric. Note: Amber is classified as a fossil resin, being typically of ancient origin, having solidified from the exudates of certain trees millions of years ago. Many pieces are found with insects embedded, the insects having been trapped by the resin while they were alive. The insects are often very well preserved, due to the antimicrobial action of components of the amber. It typically contains from 5 to 8 percent of succinic acid. "Baltic amber" has been mined for centuries in the region of Poland formerly called East Prussia, and is the variety used in most jewelry made in Poland and Russia. The Baltic strata containing amber extend under the sea, and amber beads may be found there deposited by waves along the shore. Amber was known to the ancient Greeks. The name "electron" comes from the Latin word for amber, electrum, derived from the Greek word, elektron (see electric), due to the electric charge that amber takes when rubbed, as with cat fur. Although at one time used in fine varnishes, it no longer has any commercial value for that purpose, being used mostly in jewelry. Significant deposits are also found in the Carribean region, and smaller amounts in various other places. The notion, that DNA sufficiently intact to recreate extinct animals might be extracted from amber, was the basis for Michael Crichton's novel "Jurassic Park", but has as yet (1997) not been demonstrated to be possible.
2.
Amber color, or anything amber-colored; a clear light yellow; as, the amber of the sky.
3.
Ambergris. (Obs.) "You that smell of amber at my charge."
4.
The balsam, liquidambar.
Black amber, and old and popular name for jet.
verb
Amber v. t. (past & past part. ambered)
1.
To scent or flavor with ambergris; as, ambered wine.
... gather that there lurks in the supposedly innocuous amber of ginger ale an elevating something which the temperance reformers have overlooked. Wilberforce Bray had, if you remember, tucked away no fewer than three in the spot where they would do most good. One presumes that the child, with all that stuff surging about inside him, had become ... — The Clicking of Cuthbert • P. G. Wodehouse Read full book for free!
... the floor again and stood for a moment inert, one hand resting lightly on the amber silk draperies ... — The Master-Christian • Marie Corelli Read full book for free!
... philosophers (notably Thales of Miletus and Pliny who was killed while trying to study the eruption of Vesuvius of the year 79 when Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried beneath the ashes) had noticed the strange antics of bits of straw and of feather which were held near a piece of amber which was being rubbed with a bit of wool. The schoolmen of the Middle Ages had not been interested in this mysterious "electric" power. But immediately after the Renaissance, William Gilbert, the private physician of Queen Elizabeth, wrote his famous ... — The Story of Mankind • Hendrik van Loon Read full book for free!
... of the Zephyr's scented breeze, Of amber eve and star-strewn night, Of the moan of doves, the murmur of bees, Of water trickling from the height, And all that ministers to our ease And puts dull carking ... — Punch, July 18, 1917 • Various Read full book for free!
... the shadow of the hill, where the fog lay thick and white, the gloom and the cold of the night still lingered, but as we climbed the hill we climbed, too, into the brightness of a sunny morning—brilliant, amber-tinted above the long ... — Cecilia de Noel • Lanoe Falconer Read full book for free!
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