| English Dictionary |
ALLOYED
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does alloyed mean?
• ALLOYED (adjective)
The adjective ALLOYED has 2 senses:
1. (used of metals) debased by mixture with an inferior element
2. (used of metals) blended to obtain a desired property
Familiarity information: ALLOYED used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
(used of metals) debased by mixture with an inferior element
Similar:
impure (combined with extraneous elements)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(used of metals) blended to obtain a desired property
Similar:
blended (combined or mixed together so that the constituent parts are indistinguishable)
Context examples
The researchers discovered that their rough, multi-component alloyed preparations were actually improving the efficiency of the materials by creating lots of areas with different compositions that could trap the energised charge carriers, either from sunlight in a solar cell, or an electrical current in an LED.
(‘Messy’ production of perovskite material increases solar cell efficiency, University of Cambridge)
The happiness she was imparting, too, happiness very little alloyed by the black communication which must briefly precede it—the joyful consent of her father and mother to Susan's going with her—the general satisfaction with which the going of both seemed regarded, and the ecstasy of Susan herself, was all serving to support her spirits.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
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