Definitions

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

  • noun The divalent group SO4 or a compound containing this group.
  • intransitive verb To treat or react with sulfuric acid or a sulfate.
  • intransitive verb Electricity To cause lead sulfate to accumulate on (the plates of a lead-acid storage battery).
  • intransitive verb To become sulfated.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • An amended spelling of sulphate.

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

  • noun organic chemistry Any ester of sulfuric acid.
  • noun inorganic chemistry Any salt of sulfuric acid.
  • verb transitive, chemistry To treat something with sulfuric acid, a sulfate, or with sulfur dioxide.
  • verb of a lead-acid battery To accumulate a deposit of lead sulfate.

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

  • verb convert into a sulfate
  • noun a salt or ester of sulphuric acid

Etymologies

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

[French, from Latin sulfur, sulfur.]

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Examples

  • Schopf and another researcher, Jack Farmer of Arizona State University, announced the results of a recent study in which they found that a type of mineral deposit called sulfate can harbor fossils of ancient organisms.

    Christian Science Monitor | All Stories 2010

  • 72Horovitz and Hönigschmid purified lead out of 100 kg of lead sulfate from the Joachimsthal pitchblende,

    Trafficking Materials and Gendered Experimental Practices: Radium Research in Early 20th Century Vienna 2007

  • It looks like copper sulfate, which is innocuous enough to be carrying around in an open beaker.

    Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Thoughtful scientist, colored water 2010

  • There is also a chemical reliance in organic agriculture; they just happen to be natural chemicals, like nicotine sulfate, which is horribly dangerous.

    Swallowing Eco-Hype 2009

  • All the biochemical steps along the way have to work in order for you to methylate and to sulfate, which is the process by which your body produces glutathione, the mother of all detoxifiers and antioxidants.

    The UltraMind Solution M.D. Mark Hyman 2009

  • As luck would have it, the reactions that produce glutathione also yield molecules called sulfate groups, which help generate those joint-sparing proteoglycans.

    What Is Same 2008

  • Meanwhile, the sulfur dioxide component underwent chemical reactions to form a particulate known as sulfate aerosol (in essence, droplets of water and sulfuric acid), which absorbs sunlight and reflects some of it back into space.

    Can a Million Tons of Sulfur Dioxide Combat Climate Change? By Chris Mooney 2008

  • Meanwhile, the sulfur dioxide component underwent chemical reactions to form a particulate known as sulfate aerosol (in essence, droplets of water and sulfuric acid), which absorbs sunlight and reflects some of it back into space.

    Can a Million Tons of Sulfur Dioxide Combat Climate Change? Chris Mooney 2008

  • Epsom salt is the commercial name for magnesium sulfate, which is sold in almost every drugstore for just a few dollars a carton.

    the new beauty secrets Laura Mercier 2006

  • In these cases, the pregnant woman is hospitalized and given a drug such as magnesium sulfate, which is given intravenously and stops labor by relaxing the muscles of the uterus.

    Mothering Twins LINDA ALBI 1993

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