Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cause to form crystals or assume a crystalline structure.
- intransitive verb To give a definite, precise, and usually permanent form to.
- intransitive verb To coat with crystals, as of sugar.
- intransitive verb To assume a crystalline form.
- intransitive verb To take on a definite, precise, and usually permanent form.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To cause to assume a crystalline structure or shape; form into crystals: often used figuratively.
- To change to the state of crystal.
- To be converted into a crystal; unite, as the separate particles of a substance, and form a regular solid.
- Figuratively— To assume a definite form and fixity, as an opinion, view, or idea, at first indeterminate or vague; take substantial and definite shape: as, public opinion on this subject is beginning to crystallize.
- To assume (as a number of opinions, views, or ideas, at first unsettled or diverse) a definite form, and become concentrated upon or collected round a given subject.
- Also spelled
crystallise .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To cause to form crystals, or to assume the crystalline form.
- intransitive verb To be converted into a crystal; to take on a crystalline form, through the action of crystallogenic or cohesive attraction; to precipitate from a solution in the form of crystals.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, chemistry, physics to make something form into
crystals - verb intransitive to
assume acrystalline form - verb transitive to
give something adefinite orprecise form - verb intransitive to
take a definite form - verb transitive to
coat something with crystals, especially withsugar
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cause to form crystals or assume crystalline form
- verb assume crystalline form; become crystallized
- verb cause to take on a definite and clear shape
- verb make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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_ I felt the idea crystallize, come home to roost, whatever the hell it is goofy ideas do.
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Mr. Reesling was silent for a long time, letting the idea crystallize, so to speak.
Anderson Crow, Detective George Barr McCutcheon 1897
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According to Woese and colleagues, the Darwinian threshold is the point in evolutionary history when the three domains, Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya, "crystallize" (Woese's term, 1998) their cellular architectures, which then become refractory to HGT.
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“It did kind of crystallize things,” said Mr. Webb, 26.
Beautiful Banker Yields Interest: Life After Goldman Is a Catwalk! 2009
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“It did kind of crystallize things,” said Mr. Webb, 26.
Beautiful Banker Yields Interest: Life After Goldman Is a Catwalk! 2009
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It has been ten months since I last cashed in an option; a year since I last fired an employee to "enhance shareholder value," and 11 months since I sold the company to "crystallize" that value.
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"It did kind of crystallize things," said Mr. Webb,
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"It did kind of crystallize things," said Mr. Webb,
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He said Layton will "crystallize" the distinctions between Conservatives and the New Democrats.
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Alas, the plans did not crystallize and to this day the Salvotini and the Thriller families remain in their corner of Morrison's Limbo.
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