kieselguhr
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈkiːzəlɡʊə/
Noun

kieselguhr

  1. diatomaceous earth. A kind of soft rock containing the remains of diatoms; it absorbs nitroglycerine and is used to manufacture dynamite.
    • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage 2007, p. 191:
      It was the only name anybody seemed to know him by, “Kieselguhr” being a kind of fine clay, used to soak up nitroglycerine and stabilize it into dynamite.



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