Crystal

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: Crys=tal

CIDE DICTIONARY

Crystal, n. [OE. cristal, F. cristal, L. crystallum crystal, ice, fr. Gr. kry`stallos, fr. kry`os icy cold, frost; cf. AS. crystalla, fr. L. crystallum; prob. akin to E. crust. See Crust, Raw.].

•  The regular form which a substance tends to assume in solidifying, through the inherent power of cohesive attraction. It is bounded by plane surfaces, symmetrically arranged, and each species of crystal has fixed axial ratios. See Crystallization.  [1913 Webster]
•  The material of quartz, in crystallization transparent or nearly so, and either colorless or slightly tinged with gray, or the like; -- called also rock crystal. Ornamental vessels are made of it. Cf. Smoky quartz, Pebble; also Brazilian pebble, under Brazilian.  [1913 Webster]
•  A species of glass, more perfect in its composition and manufacture than common glass, and often cut into ornamental forms. See Flint glass.  [1913 Webster]
•  The glass over the dial of a watch case.  [1913 Webster]
•  Anything resembling crystal, as clear water, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "The blue crystal of the seas."  [1913 Webster]

Blood crystal. See under Blood. -- Compound crystal. See under Compound. -- Iceland crystal, a transparent variety of calcite, or crystallized calcium carbonate, brought from Iceland, and used in certain optical instruments, as the polariscope. -- Rock crystal, or Mountain crystal, any transparent crystal of quartz, particularly of limpid or colorless quartz.

Crystal, a. 

 Consisting of, or like, crystal; clear; transparent; lucid; pellucid; crystalline.  [1913 Webster]
"Through crystal walls each little mote will peep."  [1913 Webster]
"By crystal streams that murmur through the meads."  [1913 Webster]
"The crystal pellets at the touch congeal,
And from the ground rebounds the ratting hail."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Crystal, n. & adj.
--n.
1 a a clear transparent mineral, esp. rock crystal. b a piece of this.
2 (in full crystal glass) a highly transparent glass; flint glass. b articles made of this.
3 the glass over a watch-face.
4 Electronics a crystalline piece of semiconductor.
5 Chem. a an aggregation of molecules with a definite internal structure and the external form of a solid enclosed by symmetrically arranged plane faces. b a solid whose constituent particles are symmetrically arranged.
--adj. (usu. attrib.) made of, like, or clear as crystal.

Idiom

crystal ball a glass globe used in crystal-gazing. crystal class Crystallog. any of 32 categories of crystals classified according to their symmetry. crystal clear unclouded, transparent. crystal-gazing the process of concentrating one's gaze on a crystal ball supposedly in order to obtain a picture of future events etc. crystal lattice Crystallog. the regular repeating pattern of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline substance. crystal set a simple early form of radio receiving apparatus with a crystal touching a metal wire as the rectifier. crystal system Crystallog. any of seven possible unique combinations of unit cells, crystal lattices, and symmetry elements of a crystal class.

Etymology

OE f. OF cristal f. L crystallum f. Gk krustallos ice, crystal

THESAURUS

Crystal

Benzedrine, Benzedrine pill, C, Dexamyl, Dexamyl pill, Dexedrine, Dexedrine pill, Methedrine, amphetamine, amphetamine sulfate, avalanche, blizzard, clear, clear as crystal, clear-cut, cocaine, coke, craggy, crystal-clear, crystalline, dextroamphetamine sulfate, diaphane, diaphanous, driven snow, filmy, flake, flurry, football, gauzy, gem, gem stone, gossamer, gossamery, granular snow, gravelly, gritty, heart, igloo, jolly bean, lapideous, light-pervious, limpid, lithoid, lithoidal, lucent, lucid, luminous, mantle of snow, methamphetamine hydrochloride, mogul, monolithic, nonopaque, pebbled, pebbly, peekaboo, pellucid, pep pill, porphyritic, precious stone, purple heart, revealing, rock-ribbed, rock-strewn, rock-studded, rocklike, rocky, sandy, see-through, semiprecious stone, sheer, shingled, shingly, slosh, slush, snow, snow banner, snow bed, snow blanket, snow blast, snow fence, snow flurry, snow roller, snow slush, snow squall, snow wreath, snow-crystal, snowball, snowbank, snowbridge, snowcap, snowdrift, snowfall, snowfield, snowflake, snowland, snowman, snowscape, snowshed, snowslide, snowslip, snowstorm, speed, stimulant, stone, stonelike, stony, thin, trachytic, translucent, transparent, transpicuous, unclouded, upper, wet snow

ROGET THESAURUS

Crystal

Hardness

N hardness, rigidity, renitence, renitency, inflexibility, temper, callosity, durity, induration, petrifaction, lapidification, lapidescence, vitrification, ossification, crystallization, stone, pebble, flint, marble, rock, fossil, crag, crystal, quartz, granite, adamant, bone, cartilage, hardware, heart of oak, block, board, deal board, iron, steel, cast iron, decarbonized iron, wrought iron, nail, brick, concrete, cement, hard, rigid, stubborn, stiff, firm, starch, starched, stark, unbending, unlimber, unyielding, inflexible, tense, indurate, indurated, gritty, proof, adamant, adamantine, adamantean, concrete, stony, granitic, calculous, lithic, vitreous, horny, corneous, bony, osseous, ossific, cartilaginous, hard as a rock, stiff as buckram, stiff as a poker, stiff as starch, stiff as as board.

Transparency

N transparence, transparency, clarity, translucence, translucency, diaphaneity, lucidity, pellucidity, limpidity, fluorescence, transillumination, translumination, transparent medium, glass, crystal, lymph, vitrite, water, transparent, pellucid, lucid, diaphanous, translucent, tralucent, relucent, limpid, clear, serene, crystalline, clear as crystal, vitreous, transpicuous, glassy, hyaline, hyaloid, vitreform.