Crossword clues for concretion
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Concretion \Con*cre"tion\, n. [L. concretio.]
The process of concreting; the process of uniting or of becoming united, as particles of matter into a mass; solidification.
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A mass or nodule of solid matter formed by growing together, by congelation, condensation, coagulation, induration, etc.; a clot; a lump; a calculus.
Accidental ossifications or deposits of phosphates of lime in certain organs . . . are called osseous concretions.
--Dunglison. (Geol.) A rounded mass or nodule produced by an aggregation of the material around a center; as, the calcareous concretions common in beds of clay.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
by 1670s, from French concrétion, from Latin concretionem (nominative concretio), from concretus (see concrete).
Wiktionary
n. 1 The process of aggregate or coalesce into a mass. 2 A solid, hard mass formed by a process of aggregation or coalescence. 3 (context petrology English) A rounded mass of a mineral, sometimes found in sedimentary rock or on the ocean floor. 4 The action of making something concrete or the result of such an action.
WordNet
n. the formation of stonelike objects within a body organ (e.g., the kidneys)
a hard lump produced by the concretion of mineral salts; found in hollow organs or ducts of the body; "renal calculi can be very painful" [syn: calculus]
an increase in the density of something [syn: compaction, compression, densification]
the union of diverse things into one body or form or group; the growing together of parts [syn: coalescence, coalescency, coalition, conglutination]
Wikipedia
A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin con meaning 'together' and crescere meaning 'to grow'. Concretions form within layers of sedimentary strata that have already been deposited. They usually form early in the burial history of the sediment, before the rest of the sediment is hardened into rock. This concretionary cement often makes the concretion harder and more resistant to weathering than the host stratum.
There is an important distinction to draw between concretions and nodules. Concretions are formed from mineral precipitation around some kind of nucleus while a nodule is a replacement body.
Descriptions dating from the 18th century attest to the fact that concretions have long been regarded as geological curiosities. Because of the variety of unusual shapes, sizes and compositions, concretions have been interpreted to be dinosaur eggs, animal and plant fossils (called pseudofossils), extraterrestrial debris or human artifacts.
Usage examples of "concretion".
Heart clots were very common, if not universally present, in cases of ulceration of the intestinal mucous membrane, while in the uncomplicated cases of diarrhea and scurvy, the blood was fluid and did not coagulate readily, and the heart clots and fibrous concretions were almost universally absent.
Another weed known as velp, with leaves four feet long, buried in the coral concretions, hung at the bottom.
More orderly situated are those cretaceous and chalky concretions found sometimes in the bignesse of a small vetch68 on either side their spine.
First of all then, when he speaks of the homoeomeria of things, you must know he supposes bones to be formed out of very small and minute bones and flesh of very small and minute fleshes and blood by the coming together of many drops of blood, and gold he thinks can be composed of grains of gold and earth be a concretion of small earths, and fires can come from fires and water from waters, and everything else he fancies and supposes to be produced on a like principle.
In an Hydropicall body, ten years buried in the Church-yard, we met with a fat concretion, where the nitre of the Earth, and the salt and lixivious liquor of the body, had coagulated large lumps of fat, into the consistence of the hardest castle-soap.