A crystal is a small piece of a substance that has formed naturally into a regular symmetrical shape.
...salt crystals.
...ice crystals.
...a single crystal of silicon.
2. See also liquid crystal, liquid crystal display
3. variable noun
Crystal is a transparent rock that is used to make jewellery and ornaments.
...a strand of crystal beads.
4. uncountable noun
Crystal is a high-quality glass, usually with patterns cut into its surface.
Some of the finest drinking glasses are made from lead crystal.
...crystal glasses.
...an immense crystal chandelier.
5. uncountable noun
Glasses and other containers made of crystal are referred to as crystal.
Get out your best china and crystal.
crystal in British English
(ˈkrɪstəl)
noun
1.
a piece of solid substance, such as quartz, with a regular shape in which plane faces intersect at definite angles, due to the regular internal structure of its atoms, ions, or molecules
2.
a single grain of a crystalline substance
3.
anything resembling a crystal, such as a piece of cut glass
4.
a.
a highly transparent and brilliant type of glass, often used in cut-glass tableware, ornaments, etc
b.
(as modifier)
a crystal chandelier
5.
something made of or resembling crystal
6.
crystal glass articles collectively
7. electronics
a.
a crystalline element used in certain electronic devices as a detector, oscillator, transducer, etc
b.
(as modifier)
crystal pick-up
crystal detector
8.
a transparent cover for the face of a watch, usually of glass or plastic
9. (modifier)
of or relating to a crystal or the regular atomic arrangement of crystals
crystal structure
crystal lattice
adjective
10.
resembling crystal; transparent
crystal water
Word origin
Old English cristalla, from Latin crystallum, from Greek krustallos ice, crystal, from krustainein to freeze
Crystal in American English
(ˈkrɪstəl)
noun
a feminine name
Word origin
see crystal
crystal in American English
(ˈkrɪstəl)
noun
1.
a.
a clear, transparent mineral; esp., pure quartz
b.
a piece of such quartz cut in the form of an ornament
2.
a.
a very clear, brilliant glass
b.
articles made of this glass, such as goblets, bowls, or other ware
3. US
the transparent protective covering over the face of a watch
4.
anything clear and transparent like crystal
5.
a solidified form of a substance in which the atoms or molecules are arranged in a definite pattern that is repeated regularly in three dimensions: crystals tend to develop forms bounded by definitely oriented plane surfaces that are harmonious with their internal structures
see also crystal system
6. Radio and Electricity
a piezoelectric body or plate, as of quartz, used to control very precisely the frequency of an oscillator or as a circuit element in a crystal filter or a body, often of Rochelle salt, used in a transducer, as in a crystal pickup or microphone
adjective
7.
of or composed of crystal
8.
like crystal; clear and transparent
9. Radio
of or using a crystal
Word origin
altered (modeled on L) < ME & OFr cristal, OE cristalla < L crystallum, crystal, ice < Gr krystallos < kryos: see crude
crystal in Chemical Engineering
(krɪstəl)
Word forms: (regular plural) crystals
noun
(Chemical Engineering: General)
A crystal is a solid that has an atomic or molecular structural unit which is repeated throughout the solid.
Larger crystals have a smaller surface area to volume ratio, leading to a higher purity.
The external geometry of a crystal is a result of the internal regular arrangements of atoms that it is built up from.
A crystal is a solid that has an atomic or molecular structural unit which is repeated throughoutthe solid.
crystal growth, crystallization, crystallizer
Word family'crystalcrystalli'zation'crystallizer
More idioms containing
crystal
clear as crystal
a crystal ball
Examples of 'crystal' in a sentence
crystal
The first commercially available liquid crystal lenses are expected to take between six and ten years.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The skin is also peeled with acid or blasted with tiny crystals to smooth it.
The Sun (2011)
For this he received a crystal glass bowl.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Also seen were ice crystals actually tumbling out of the fog.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Inside are a shiny new penny and a small crystal.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They could see salt crystals in the flesh.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He was a world leader in quartz crystals.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Its advantage over a liquid crystal display at the present time is its superior brightness.
Samways, B. & Byrne-Jones, T. Computers Basic Facts (1983)
Is grinding whole peppercorns and chunky sea salt crystals the most satisfying of cooking rituals?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Let us make our position crystal clear: we are against this weather.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Another has a crystal chandelier sparkling above a wide double bed, as if in a palazzo.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The china and crystal were so clean, they sparkled.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Laser heating of single crystals in the rock showed the fragment to be 2.4 million years old.
Wills, Christopher The Runaway Brain: the Evolution of Human Uniqueness (1993)
It's more like crystal meth addiction.
Christianity Today (2000)
To ramp up the glam, iron on tiny crystals to your hair with your straighteners.
The Sun (2012)
Crystal martini glasses probably aren't us.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
As the bottle is opened, bubbles appear that the ice crystals latch on to.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Quick freezing methods form small ice crystals in the food which helps to reduce damage to the texture and flavour of the food.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But old habits die hard and having knocked a few chips off the rock crystal he began opening and closing the brooch a thousand times.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
You need to make it crystal clear to your players that they must give 100 per cent and be absolutely up for the fight.
The Sun (2009)
The villa comes with its own chef, swimming pool, marble staircase and crystal chandelier.
The Sun (2011)
From time to time one comes across a turn of phrase, a descriptive passage, a metaphor so apt that it rings like lead crystal.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In other languages
crystal
British English: crystal /ˈkrɪstl/ NOUN
A crystal is a piece of a mineral that has formed naturally into a regular symmetrical shape.
...salt crystals.
American English: crystal
Arabic: بَلُّور
Brazilian Portuguese: cristal
Chinese: 水晶
Croatian: kristal
Czech: krystal
Danish: krystal
Dutch: kristal
European Spanish: cristal
Finnish: kristalli
French: cristal
German: Kristall
Greek: κρύσταλλο
Italian: cristallo
Japanese: 水晶
Korean: 수정
Norwegian: krystall
Polish: kryształ
European Portuguese: cristal
Romanian: cristal
Russian: кристалл
Latin American Spanish: cristal
Swedish: kristall
Thai: แก้วเจียระไน
Turkish: kristal
Ukrainian: кристал
Vietnamese: pha lê
All related terms of 'crystal'
crystal set
an early form of radio receiver having a crystal detector to demodulate the radio signals but no amplifier , therefore requiring earphones
crystal ball
If you say that someone, especially an expert , looks into a crystal ball , you mean that they are trying to predict the future . Crystal balls are traditionally used by fortune-tellers.
crystal class
any of 32 possible types of crystals, classified according to their rotational symmetry about axes through a point
crystal-clear
Water that is crystal clear is absolutely clear and transparent like glass .
crystal form
a symmetrical set of planes in space, associated with a crystal , having the same symmetry as the crystal class
crystal gazer
crystal habit
the external shape of a crystal
crystal meth
crystal methamphetamine , a concentrated and highly potent form of methamphetamine with dangerous side effects
crystal pleat
one of a series of fine , permanently pressed pleats of varying widths , usually in a sheer fabric
ideal crystal
a crystal in which there are no defects or impurities
lead crystal
cut glass containing lead oxide
mixed crystal
a crystal consisting of a solid solution of two or more distinct compounds
quasi-crystal
a group of atoms resembling a crystal but not having symmetrical plane faces
rock crystal
a pure transparent colourless quartz , used in electronic and optical equipment. Formula: SiO 2
snow crystal
a crystal of ice sufficiently heavy to fall from the atmosphere
crystal counter
an instrument for detecting and measuring the intensity of high-energy radiation, in which particles collide with a crystal and momentarily increase its conductivity
crystal gazing
the act of staring into a crystal globe (crystal ball) supposedly in order to arouse visual perceptions of the future , etc
crystal growth
Crystal growth is the process of making a crystal grow by continuing to remove a component from a solution .
crystal healing
(in alternative therapy ) the use of the supposed power of crystals to affect the human energy field
crystal lattice
the regular array of points about which the atoms , ions , or molecules composing a crystal are centred
crystal nucleus
the tiny crystal that forms at the onset of crystallization
Crystal Palace
a building of glass and iron designed by Joseph Paxton to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. Erected in Hyde Park , London , it was moved to Sydenham (1852–53): destroyed by fire in 1936
crystal pickup
a piezoelectric vibration pickup or detector , often used on electric phonographs
crystal system
any of six , or sometimes seven , classifications of crystals depending on their symmetry . The classes are cubic , tetragonal , hexagonal , orthorhombic , monoclinic , and triclinic . Sometimes an additional system, trigonal , is distinguished , although this is usually included in the hexagonal system
crystal violet
a rosaniline dye , C 25 H 30 ClN 3 , used as an antiseptic , an indicator , and a bacterial stain in Gram's method
liquid crystal
A liquid crystal is a liquid that has some of the qualities of crystals, for example reflecting light from different directions in different ways .
quartz crystal
a thin plate or rod cut in certain directions from a piece of piezoelectric quartz and accurately ground so that it vibrates at a particular frequency
a crystal ball
a way of saying what will happen in the future
crystal detector
a demodulator, used esp in microwave circuits and in early radio receivers , consisting of a thin metal wire in point contact with a semiconductor crystal
crystal microphone
a microphone that uses a piezoelectric crystal to convert sound energy into electrical energy
clear as crystal
obvious and very easy to understand
crystal pick-up
a record-player pick-up in which the current is generated by the deformation of a piezoelectric crystal caused by the movements of the stylus
piezoelectric crystal
a crystal, such as quartz , that produces a potential difference across its opposite faces when under mechanical stress
wild rosemary
a bog shrub, Ledum palustre , of the heath family, found from the North Temperate Zone to the Arctic Circle, having leaves that are rust-colored and hairy beneath with rolled margins , and dense clusters of white flowers
liquid-crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a display of information on a screen , which uses liquid crystals that become visible when electricity is passed through them.
point group
any of 32 possible types of crystals , classified according to their rotational symmetry about axes through a point
lcd
An LCD is a display of information on a screen , which uses liquid crystals that become visible when electricity is passed through them. LCD is an abbreviation for 'liquid crystal display'.
gentian violet
a greenish crystalline substance, obtained from rosaniline , that forms a violet solution in water, used as an indicator , antiseptic , and in the treatment of burns
system
A system is a way of working, organizing , or doing something which follows a fixed plan or set of rules. You can use system to refer to an organization or institution that is organized in this way.