kieselguhr
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English
Etymology
Borrowed from German Kieselguhr, from Kiesel (“pebble, gravel”) + Guhr (“guhr”).
Pronunciation
Noun
kieselguhr (countable and uncountable, plural kieselguhrs)
- Diatomaceous earth, a kind of soft rock containing the remains of diatoms; it absorbs nitroglycerine and is used to manufacture dynamite.
- 2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Iceland Spar”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 171:
- 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.
French
Noun
kieselguhr m (plural kieselguhrs)
- kieselguhr, diatomaceous earth
- Synonyms: terre d’infusoires, terre diatomée
Further reading
- “kieselguhr”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.