AMALGAM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does amalgam mean? 

• AMALGAM (noun)
  The noun AMALGAM has 2 senses:

1. an alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams

2. a combination or blend of diverse things

  Familiarity information: AMALGAM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AMALGAM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An alloy of mercury with another metal (usually silver) used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth; except for iron and platinum all metals dissolve in mercury and chemists refer to the resulting mercury mixtures as amalgams

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

amalgam; dental amalgam

Hypernyms ("amalgam" is a kind of...):

alloy; metal (a mixture containing two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements usually fused together or dissolving into each other when molten)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A combination or blend of diverse things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

his theory is an amalgam of earlier ideas

Hypernyms ("amalgam" is a kind of...):

combination (a collection of things that have been combined; an assemblage of separate parts or qualities)

Derivation:

amalgamate (to bring or combine together or with something else)

 Context examples 

It is commonly used in thermometers and amalgams, and has been used as an ingredient in some homeopathic medicines and in very small amounts as a preservative in viral vaccines.

(Mercury, NCI Dictionary)

It can be used as a base under composite or amalgam fillings.

(Cavitec, NCI Thesaurus)

“They are coiners on a large scale, and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the place of silver.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)