Definitions

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

  • noun A slender, usually tubular body of glassy rock produced by lightning striking and then fusing dry sandy soil.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An explosive of the nitroglycerin class, used for blasting: similar to dynamite, but the nature of the dope has not been disclosed by the inventor.
  • noun A tube formed, usually in loose sand, but sometimes in the solid rock, by lightning; a lightning-tube.

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

  • noun A vitrified sand tube produced by the striking of lightning on sand; a lightning tube; also, the portion of rock surface fused by a lightning discharge.

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

  • noun glass formed by a lightning strike melting sand or other material

Etymologies

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

[Latin fulgur, lightning; see fulgurate + –ite.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin fulgur.

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Examples

  • The unheated soil associated with the fulgurite is a tan, sandy silt.

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • I found a fulgurite, once It was broken off near where the boiled sand first fused to glass and ended about six inches down the stem.

    Making Light: Pretty rocks 2010

  • I found a fulgurite, once It was broken off near where the boiled sand first fused to glass and ended about six inches down the stem.

    Making Light: Pretty rocks 2010

  • Is the light grey stone on the right part of the matrix surrounding the fulgurite?

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • The photographer says that the entire fulgurite is about 10 cm in diameter, but this photograph is only a detail.

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • During the lightning strike, the soil heated up to the gray color shown in this photo, forming the exterior of the fulgurite, and individual grains are cemented together with a small amount of glass.

    Fulgurite - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • It was a fulgurite, Laura told him, sand fused the moment it was struck by lightning.

    The Tenth Circle Picoult, Jodi, 1966- 2006

  • It was a fulgurite, Laura told him, sand fused the moment it was struck by lightning.

    The Tenth Circle Jodi Picoult 2006

  • "The lab reported the explosive had been chemical - fulgurite-B, the name is."

    Time Patrolman Anderson, Poul, 1926-2001 1983

  • Also found in the altar trench was a sample of fulgurite or petrified lightning.

    EurekAlert! - Breaking News 2009

Comments

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  • A naturally forming hollow glass tube; created when certain types of sand are struck by lightning.

    September 17, 2008