Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use alum in a sentence

16 example sentences · noun, verb

Alum means an astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K₂SO₄·Al₂(SO₄)₃·24H₂O). Example: “Venice also needed alum for trade, since it was the point of departure for overland transportation of alum to southern Germany and its cloth-manufacturing Free Cities.”

Examples of alum by meaning

nounAn astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in...

  • Venice also needed alum for trade, since it was the point of departure for overland transportation of alum to southern Germany and its cloth-manufacturing Free Cities.1991, Felix Gilbert, The Pope, His Banker, and Venice, page 80
  • A natural astringent and antiseptic, potassium alum was coveted for its medicinal and cosmetic properties.2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 201

nounAny similar double sulphate in which either or both of the potassium and aluminium is wholly or partly replaced by...

  • In structure, the alums consist of simple ions, being not complexes, but double salts.2005, Amit Arora, Text Book Of Inorganic Chemistry, page 386

verbTo steep in, or otherwise impregnate with, a solution of alum; to treat with alum.

  • After drying, the cloth was alumed and finally dyed.1979, Kax Wilson, A History of Textiles, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 90

nounA past attendee or graduate (of any gender) of a college, university or other educational institution.

  • You'll remember that we're starting with a list of slightly over 7,000 names that are alums (most of them over 50) that we'd like to whittle down to a manageable list of prospects.2006, Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield, Pamela M. Gignac, Christopher Carnie, Major Donors: Finding Big Gifts in Your Database and Online...
  • All schools that last have alums, and, ancient as it was by American standards, Trinity by mid-century had thousands.2009, Timothy C. Jacobson, Charity & Merit: Trinity School at 300, page 190
  • “It breaks my heart to see them naked, undignified, shivering in the cold as they swallow our daily filth,” proclaims the woman, played by the Saturday Night Live alum Aidy Bryant.2024 June 5, Shirley Li, “This Show Understands the Absurdity of Modern Existence”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 05 Jun...

More sentences with alum

  • Huge quanitities of alum and woad were disembarked each year at Southampton.1983, E. B. Fryde, Studies in Medieval Trade and Finance, page 360. From the entry woad
  • Later in January, the alum club hostessed the initiation brunch at the Pi Beta Phi chapter house.1975, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, volume 92, number 2, page 69. From the entry hostess
  • “I think the thing that was most surprising was how supportive and gung-ho a lot older alums were,” said Mx.2015 June 4, Elizabeth A. Harris, “Barnard College, After Much Discussion, Decides to Accept Transgender Women”, in The New York Times. From the entry MX
  • We got married!" "The Nanny" alum tweeted Sunday, sharing a snapshot of herself with her new husband, inventor-entrepreneur Shiva Ayyadurai.2014 September 8, Nardine Saad, “Fran Drescher of 'The Nanny' marries Shiva Ayyadurai”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original…. From the entry Ayyadurai
  • Venetian women who wanted coppery hair colors applied bleaching mixtures, such as one that contained alum, sulfur, soda, and rhubarb.2006, Victoria Sherrow, Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History, page 155. From the entry coppery
  • Prior to that, the actress retweeted a "twofie" photo posted by "The Flash" actor Grant Gustin, who is also a "Glee" alum like her.2016 February 15, “'Supergirl' Season 1 Spoilers: Melissa Benoist posts Blake Jenner date, Chyler Leigh proud of superhero series”, in…. From the entry twofie
  • For the last six years a group of Shimer alums together with some honorary Shimerians have been meeting once a month in Evanston.2008 Fall, “Life After Shimer Discussion Group”, in Symposium, Shimer College, archived from the original on 09 Jun 2010, page 14. From the entry Shimerian
  • For as much as the Downton Abbey alum has capitalized on his leading-man presentability—how suited he is to wearing suits—his best performances play deviously on that quality.2021 September 16, A. A. Dowd, “Dan Stevens as a dashing robot lover? That computes”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 30 Dec 2021. From the entry deviously
  • The soul of this community is local queen bee Sherry Conrad (Search Party alum Shalita Grant, the season’s MVP), an officious, controlling momfluencer with a knack for stealing the spotlight.2021 October 17, Judy Berman, “You Season 3 Is the Best Installment Yet—and a Brilliant Send-Up of Suburbia”, in Time Magazine. From the entry momfluencer

Meaning of alum

  1. noun An astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K₂SO₄·Al₂(SO₄)₃·24H₂O).
  2. noun Any similar double sulphate in which either or both of the potassium and aluminium is wholly or partly replaced by other univalent or tervalent cations.
  3. verb To steep in, or otherwise impregnate with, a solution of alum; to treat with alum.

Full definition of alum

Questions about alum in a sentence

How do you use alum in a sentence?
Alum is used as a noun and verb. For example: “Venice also needed alum for trade, since it was the point of departure for overland transportation of alum to southern Germany and its cloth-manufacturing Free Cities.”
What is a short sentence with alum?
“After drying, the cloth was alumed and finally dyed.”
What does alum mean?
Alum means an astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K₂SO₄·Al₂(SO₄)₃·24H₂O).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: alum (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use alum in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/alum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.