chromium

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

• noun A lustrous, hard, steel-gray metallic element, resistant to tarnish and corrosion and found primarily in chromite. It is used in the hardening of steel alloys and the production of stainless steels, in corrosion-resistant decorative platings, and as a pigment in glass. Atomic number 24; atomic weight 51.996; melting point 1,907°C; boiling point 2,671°C; specific gravity 7.15; valence 2, 3, 6. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Chemical symbol, Cr; atomic weight, 52.3; specific gravity, 6.8-7.3. An element belonging to the metals, obtained in the pure state as a light-green crystalline powder.

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

• noun (Chem.) A comparatively rare element occurring most abundantly in the mineral chromite. Atomic weight 52.5. Symbol Cr. When isolated it is a hard, brittle, grayish white metal, fusible with difficulty. Its chief commercial importance is for its compounds, as potassium chromate, lead chromate, etc., which are brilliantly colored and are used dyeing and calico printing. Called also chrome.

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

• noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Cr) with an atomic number of 24.

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

• noun a hard brittle multivalent metallic element; resistant to corrosion and tarnishing