Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A soft, silvery, easily oxidized metallic element that ignites spontaneously in air when finely divided. Strontium is used in pyrotechnic compounds and various alloys, and as a coating on cathode-ray tubes and related display devices to block x-ray emission. Atomic number 38; atomic weight 87.62; melting point 777°C; boiling point 1,382°C; specific gravity 2.64; valence 2. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Chemical symbol, Sr; atomic weight, 87.37; specific gravity, 2.54. A dark-yellow metal, less lustrous than barium, malleable, and fusible at a red heat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A metallic element of the calcium group, always naturally occurring combined, as in the minerals strontianite, celestite, etc. It is isolated as a yellowish metal, somewhat malleable but harder than calcium. It is chiefly employed (as in the nitrate) to color pyrotechnic flames red. Symbol Sr. Atomic weight 87.3.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Sr) with an atomic number of 38.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element of the alkali metal group; turns yellow in air; occurs in celestite and strontianite

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From New Latin strontia, strontium oxide, from English strontian; see strontianite.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named in a pseudo-Latin manner for the name of the Scottish town Strontian.

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Examples

  • But the water may contain other harmful substances, such as beta-ray emitting strontium, which is known for causing bone cancers.

    New Leak Detected at Nuclear Facility Mitsuru Obe 2011

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

  • "The strontium is the secret," said Li - although exactly what it is doing is unclear.

    Analysis 2010

Comments

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  • Sr

    December 2, 2007

  • "Jack was speaking to the gunner at the time, explaining that the private powder in the kegs marked X was mixed with red orpiment, and XX with antimony or copper, while still others had lycoperdium or camphor or strontium..."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 50

    February 11, 2008