n.
- (Symbol Ag) A lustrous white, ductile, malleable metallic element, occurring both uncombined and in ores such as argentite, having the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of the metals. It is highly valued for jewelry, tableware, and other ornamental use and is widely used in coinage, photography, dental and soldering alloys, electrical contacts, and printed circuits. Atomic number 47; atomic weight 107.87; melting point 960.8°C; boiling point 2,212°C; specific gravity 10.50; valence 1, 2.
- This metallic element as a commodity or medium of exchange.
- Coins made of this metallic element.
- A medal made of silver awarded to one placing second in a competition, as in the Olympics.
- Domestic articles, such as tableware, made of or plated with silver.
- Tableware, especially eating and serving utensils, made of steel or another metal.
- A lustrous medium gray.
- A silver salt, especially silver nitrate, used to sensitize paper.
- Made of or containing silver: a silver bowl; silver ore.
- Resembling silver, especially in having a lustrous shine; silvery.
- Of a lustrous medium gray: silver hair.
- Having a soft, clear, resonant sound.
- Eloquent; persuasive: a silver voice.
- Favoring the adoption of silver as a standard of currency: the silver plank of the 1896 Democratic platform.
- Of or constituting a 25th anniversary.
v., -vered, -ver·ing, -vers. v.tr.
- To cover, plate, or adorn with silver or a similar lustrous substance.
- To give a silver color to.
- To coat (photographic paper) with a film of silver nitrate or other silver salt.
To become silvery.
[Middle English, from Old English siolfor, seolfor, probably ultimately from Akkadian ṣarpu, refined silver, verbal adj. of ṣarāpu, to smelt, refine.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
