phosphate

CEFRC1

/ˈfɒsfeɪt/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A chemical compound containing phosphorus, found in fertilizers and living things.
02
noun
Extra detail
Any fertiliser containing phosphate compounds.

Examples

Alveolar bone has a high mineral content, mainly calcium and phosphate.
Earnings from Nauru's export of phosphate remains an important source of income.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

Guano (containing high levels of phosphates and harvested for the fertiliser industry).
Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid.

verb

Extra meaning

To treat or coat with a phosphate or phosphoric acid.

More examples

In context

Tomatoes like a little phosphate.
Make sure you don’t use detergents with phosphates or nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants, but that information is rarely available on the labels.
Bony fishes were judicious in their use of phosphate as a building material: their teeth, a few parts of the skeleton, and that was it.

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

Farmers add blank to the soil to help plants grow because it provides essential nutrients.

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Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Make sure you don’t use detergents with phosphates or nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants, but that information is rarely available on the labels.
2009 February 26, Julie Scelfo, “When It Comes to Detergents, What’s the Least Irresponsible Choice?”, in The New York Times
Bony fishes were judicious in their use of phosphate as a building material: their teeth, a few parts of the skeleton, and that was it.
2022 November 4, Natalie Angier, “The Sad Fate of the Ancient, Well-Shelled Mariners”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived fr...
An egg phosphate is a phosphate to which an egg has been added in the proper manner. While an egg phosphate can be flavored with any syrup that makes a good phosphate, still the standard flavor by long usage has com to be orange […]
1920, Irving P. Fox, The Spatula, page 27
“This man here,” she said, “can make you a cherry Coke or a chocolate Coke or a phosphate — a chocolate phosphate or. “Vanilla phosphate,” the man helped, “cherry phosphate, orange phosphate, lime phosphate, lemon phosphate,
2002, Michael Raleigh, In the castle of the Flynns, page 180
You order California burgers for us both, even though I don't eat lettuce or tomato, then you order me a phosphate, cherry, a dreadful fizzy drink you say you always loved. It's bitter, bubbly, unbearable; but, thirsty for your past, force myself to drink it.
2008, Kathryn Kysar, Riding shotgun: women write about their mothers, page 106

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Origin

noun

From French phosphate. By surface analysis, phosphoric acid + -ate (“salt or ester”).

Deep Dive

noun

verb

More examples

Quick test

Farmers add blank— to the soil to help plants grow because it provides essential nutrients.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Farmers add blank to the soil to help plants grow because it provides essential nutrients.