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Precipitate   /prɪsˈɪpɪtˌeɪt/   Listen
noun
Precipitate  n.  (Chem.)
1.
An insoluble substance separated from a solution in a concrete state by the action of some reagent added to the solution, or of some force, such as heat or cold. The precipitate may fall to the bottom (whence the name), may be diffused through the solution, or may float at or near the surface.
2.
Atmospheric moisture condensed as rain or snow, etc.; same as precipitation 5.
Red precipitate (Old. Chem), mercuric oxide (HgO) a heavy red crystalline powder obtained by heating mercuric nitrate, or by heating mercury in the air. Prepared in the latter manner, it was the precipitate per se of the alchemists.
White precipitate (Old Chem.)
(a)
A heavy white amorphous powder (NH2.HgCl) obtained by adding ammonia to a solution of mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate; formerly called also infusible white precipitate, and now amido-mercuric chloride.
(b)
A white crystalline substance obtained by adding a solution of corrosive sublimate to a solution of sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride); formerly called also fusible white precipitate.


verb
Precipitate  v. t.  (past & past part. precipitated; pres. part. precipitating)  
1.
To throw headlong; to cast down from a precipice or height. "She and her horse had been precipitated to the pebbled region of the river."
2.
To urge or press on with eager haste or violence; to cause to happen, or come to a crisis, suddenly or too soon; as, precipitate a journey, or a conflict. "Back to his sight precipitates her steps." "If they be daring, it may precipitate their designs, and prove dangerous."
3.
(Chem.) To separate from a solution, or other medium, in the form of a precipitate; as, water precipitates camphor when in solution with alcohol. "The light vapor of the preceding evening had been precipitated by the cold."


Precipitate  v. i.  
1.
To dash or fall headlong. (R.) "So many fathom down precipitating."
2.
To hasten without preparation. (R.)
3.
(Chem.) To separate from a solution as a precipitate. See Precipitate, n.


adjective
Precipitate  adj.  
1.
Overhasty; rash; as, the king was too precipitate in declaring war.
2.
Lacking due deliberation or care; hurried; said or done before the time; as, a precipitate measure. "The rapidity of our too precipitate course."
3.
Falling, flowing, or rushing, with steep descent; headlong. "Precipitate the furious torrent flows."
4.
Ending quickly in death; brief and fatal; as, a precipitate case of disease. (Obs.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Precipitate" Quotes from Famous Books



... considerable coolness and skill. They were some thousand feet above the clouds. If the ballast were dismissed too soon, the balloon must again acquire a perilous velocity before it would reach the earth. If, on the other hand, its descent were not moderated in time, its fall might become so precipitate as to be ungovernable. Nine or ten sand-bags being, therefore, reserved for the last and critical moment, all the rest of the ballast was discharged. The fall being still frightfully rapid, the voyagers cast ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850 • Various
... climbing that bullet-swept hill-side, would ever gain the crest. So they doggedly held their position, firing with the regularity of machines, and expecting with each moment to see the American ranks melt away or break in precipitate night. They did melt away in part, but not wholly, and their only flight was a very slow one ...
— "Forward, March" - A Tale of the Spanish-American War • Kirk Munroe
... the present campaign the enemy, with all his augmented means and wanton use of them, has little ground for exultation, unless he can feel it in the success of his recent enterprises against this metropolis and the neighboring town of Alexandria, from both of which his retreats were as precipitate as his attempts were bold and fortunate. In his other incursions on our Atlantic frontier his progress, often checked and chastised by the martial spirit of the neighboring citizens, has had more effect in distressing individuals and in ...
— State of the Union Addresses of James Madison • James Madison
... Key's eyes concentrated suddenly, the listless look left his face. His fingers trembled lightly as he again let the salt water fall into the solution, with exactly the same result! Again and again he repeated it, until the bottom of the glass was quite gray with the fallen precipitate. And his own face ...
— In a Hollow of the Hills • Bret Harte
... nitrate solution. You see, I leave no mark on the paper as I write. I fold it up and drop it into the jar - and in a few seconds withdraw it. Here is a very quick way of producing something like the slow result of sunlight with silver nitrate. The fumes of ammonia have formed the precipitate of black mercurous nitrate, a very distinct black writing which is almost indelible. That is what is technically called invisible ...
— The Poisoned Pen • Arthur B. Reeve


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