asbestos
/æsˈbɛs.tɒs//æsˈbɛs.təs/
asbestos noun: any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.
Noun
asbestos (countable and uncountable, plural asbestoses or (rare) asbesti)
- Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.
- All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.
- Asbestos insulation was once ubiquitous.
- Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals, asbestiforms
- The supposed material composing part of the body that is impervious to heat, or by extension other unpleasant sensations; especially hot or spicy food.
- She sipped the coffee; she always did have asbestos lips.2013 December 17, Tom Holt, When It's A Jar: YouSpace Book 2, Hachette UK, →ISBN
- They were exceptionally good and were accompanied by a chili sauce that had to be eaten with great caution unless you had an asbestos tongue but was nonetheless delicious.2014 May 29, Bernard Veale, Read My Lips, Andrews UK Limited, →ISBN
Verb
asbestos (third-person singular simple present asbestoses, present participle asbestosing, simple past and past participle asbestosed)
- To coat or line with asbestos.
- “Be sure you have plenty of kindling before you begin. They are rather non-inflammable and well asbestosed, so to speak.”1919, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 192, page 93, column 4
- The latter department will be asbestosed without according to the idea of Professor Swain, whose deductions are that you should wear an overcoat in summer for the reason that what will keep out the cold will keep out the heat.1924, International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers’ Union Journal, volume 19, page 22, column 1
- To expose to asbestos; to cause to suffer asbestosis.
- Lungs asbestosed / unable to breath^([sic]) / and so incapable / of producing for profit / sent away without delay / so a fresh lunged / could occupy / the vacant place.1990, The Nairobi Law Monthly, page 2, column 3
- To insulate or buffer.
- Is Malcolm J. Miller’s South Carolina Sinking Fund partly immune, partly asbestosed, or what?1922, The Insurance Press, volume 54, page 6, column 3
- Whatever air’s asbestosing the prayers / Of this sparse April parlour must splutter / To dust until it dismantles itself.1992, Chapman, →ISBN, page 84
Proper noun capitalized: Asbestos
Asbestos
asbestos meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Tagalog and Arabic
asbestos in Tamil
- any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate
- கல்நார் kalnār
asbestos in Malayalam
- any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate
- ആസ്ബസ്റ്റോസ് āsbasṟṟōsŭ
asbestos in Tagalog
- any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate
- asbesto
asbestos in Arabic
- any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate
- أَسْبِسْتُوس ʔasbistus, أَسْبِسْت ʔasbist, أَمْيانْت ʔamyānt
More languagesFewer languages
- asbestos in Malay
- asbestos
- asbestos in Indonesian
- asbes
- asbestos in Persian
- پنبه نسوز panbe-ye nasuz, آزبست âzbest
- asbestos in Thai
- แร่ใยหิน rɛ̂ɛ-yai-hǐn
- asbestos in Vietnamese
- miăng, amiăng
- asbestos in Myanmar
- ကျောက်ဂွမ်း kyaukgwam:
Examples of asbestos in a sentence
- These workers, however, are mostly farmers who devote only their spare time to mining and use simply hammers and chisels and gather only the asbestos which lies near the surface.1913 February, “Asbestos Mines in China”, in Mines and Minerals, volume XXXIII, number 7, Scranton, PA, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 398, column 3:
- Insulation against sound and changes in external temperature is given by a thickness of asbestos on the inside of the panels.1946 November and December, “New L.M.S.R. Royal Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, page 371:
- "This water is scalding!" Lena explained to me that she had asbestos hands.2020 October 13, Valérie Falzo, Extraordinary Souls I Have Known, Covenant Books, Inc., →ISBN:
- Dad plucks the steamed Chinese charcuterie out with his asbestos fingers, places it on the wooden circular chopping board and begins slicing it into bite-size pieces before returning it to the pot.2022 July 21, Angela Hui, Takeaway: Stories from a childhood behind the counter, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
Forms of asbestos
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | asbestoses |
| plural (rare) | asbesti |
| alternative form (archaic) | asbestus |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | asbestoses |
| present participle | asbestosing |
| past participle | asbestosed |
| past | asbestosed |
Origin of asbestos
Learned borrowing from Classical Latin asbestos, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄσβεστος (ásbestos), from ἀ- (a-) + σβεστός (sbestós). Compare Middle English asbestus and Old French abestos.
From asbestos, from Old French abestos. * (Asbestos, Quebec): Named by the Royal Mail for the asbestos mines the mining settlement was setup for, when Canada was still a colony of Britain. The county was named for the town. * (Asbestos, Russia): English for the Russian term for asbestos, асбест (asbest)
Words formed from asbestos
- asbestic
- asbestiferous
- asbestification
- asbestiform
- asbestify
- asbestine
- asbestinite
- asbestise
- asbestite
- asbestization
- asbestize
- asbestoid
- asbestos cement
- asbestosis
- asbestosization
- asbestosize
- asbestosless
- asbestoslike
- asbestous
- blue asbestos
- brown asbestos
- common asbestos
- green asbestos
- nonasbestos
- white asbestos
Phrases with asbestos
Questions about asbestos
- What does asbestos mean?
- Asbestos means any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.
- What is asbestos in Tamil?
- Asbestos in Tamil is கல்நார் (kalnār). See Asbestos meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use asbestos in a sentence?
- These workers, however, are mostly farmers who devote only their spare time to mining and use simply hammers and chisels and gather only the asbestos which lies near the surface.
- What part of speech is asbestos?
- Asbestos can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce asbestos?
- Asbestos is pronounced /æsˈbɛs.tɒs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of asbestos?
- The plural of asbestos is asbestoses.
Words near asbestos in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: asbestos (page history and authors); Asbestos (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-asbestos.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Yangolin-asbestos.wav.
Cite this entry: “asbestos.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/asbestos. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.