1
[ noun ] worthless material that should be removed

Synonyms

dross

Examples

"there were impurities in the water"

Used in print

(James A. Ibers et al., "Proton magnetic resonance...)

Subsequently , we learned from Douglass that his sample contained a_few percent **f impurity .

Emission_spectra indicated **f calcium and all other impurities much lower .

Magnetic analyses by R._G._Meisenheimer of this laboratory indicated no ferromagnetic impurities .

(Jay C. Harris and John R. Van Wazer, "Detergent...)

Greasy soils are hardly removed by washing in plain water ; and natural waters , in_addition , often contain impurities such_as calcium salts which can react with soils to make them more difficult to remove .

(Francis J. Johnston and John E. Willard, "The...)

The rate of the gas phase exchange reaction appears to be proportional to the first power of the absorbed light intensity indicating that the radical intermediates are removed at the walls or by reaction with an impurity rather than by bimolecular radical combination reactions .

Related terms

waste

2
[ noun ] the condition of being impure

Synonyms

impureness

Used in print

(Francis J. Johnston and John E. Willard, "The...)

Although there was some variation in results which must be attributed either to trace impurities or to variation in wall effects , the photochemical_exchange in the gas phase was sufficiently reproducible so that it seemed meaningful to compare the reaction rates in different series of reaction tubes for the purpose of obtaining information on the effect of chlorine concentration and of carbon_tetrachloride concentration on the reaction rate .

(Jacob Robbins et al., "The thyroid-stimulating...)

The first attempts to isolate TSH came a decade later , when Janssen and Loeser ( 1931 ) used trichloroacetic_acid to separate the soluble TSH from insoluble impurities .

(Gerald Green, The Heartless Light....)

Southern_California gasped and blinked under an autumn hot_spell , drier , more enervating , more laden with man 's contrived impurities than the worst days of the summer past .

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