Word.ws English Dictionary

carborundum

/ˌkɑɹ.bəˈɹʌn.dəm/

carborundum noun: crystals of silicon carbide used as an abrasive.

Noun (1)

carborundum (uncountable)

  1. Crystals of silicon carbide used as an abrasive.
    • There is no doubt that such a button — properly prepared under great pressure — of carborundum, especially of powder of the best quality, will withstand the effect of the bombardment fully as well as anything we know.1892, Nikola Tesla, Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 73
    • This can most readily be done by use of carborundum marking. The procedure involves successive marking of the same mat with layers of carborundum at least twice.1976, M.R. Walter, Stromatolites, Elsevier, →ISBN, page 28

Noun (2) capitalized: Carborundum

Carborundum (uncountable)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of carborundum.

Examples of carborundum in a sentence

  • At the same times, samples were taken to determine that the carborundum treatment did increase the amount of wear of the mandibles compared with insects on the diet without carborundum powder.1995, Reg F. Chapman, Gerrit de Boer, Regulatory Mechanisms in Insect Feeding, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 22:
  • Print made by combining carborundum—a carbon and silicon compound customarily used for polishing by abrasion—with synthetic resin or varnish (see also Prints, §III, 5).2008, Gerald W. R. Ward, The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 83:

Origin of carborundum

Blend of carbon + corundum; originally a trade name.

Questions about carborundum

What does carborundum mean?
Carborundum means crystals of silicon carbide used as an abrasive.
How do you use carborundum in a sentence?
At the same times, samples were taken to determine that the carborundum treatment did increase the amount of wear of the mandibles compared with insects on the diet without carborundum powder.
What part of speech is carborundum?
Carborundum is a noun.
How do you pronounce carborundum?
Carborundum is pronounced /ˌkɑɹ.bəˈɹʌn.dəm/.

Words near carborundum in the dictionary

  1. carboreduction
  2. carborexia
  3. carborexic
  4. carborexics
  5. carborne
  6. carborundum
  7. carboryne
  8. carbos
  9. carbosilane
  10. carbosilanes
  11. carboskeletal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: carborundum (page history and authors); Carborundum (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.

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Cite this entry: “carborundum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/carborundum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.