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quartzite

quartzite

1 8.8
A hard rock that forms when sandstone changes under heat and pressure
  • noun
  • /ˈkwɔrˌzaɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cuarcita
  • Not until she'd exhausted herself had she finally dropped the quartzite cobble.
  • quartzite rock
  • quartzite cobble
  • fine quartzite

Imagine that in her eyes they made out of quartzite and gold and fool's gold and shale.

Examples

  • As she walked, she searched the ground and found a quartzite cobble of just the right size.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • We actually have a quartzite fireplace over here.

  • I saw quartzite cobbles in the river.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • At abyssal depths, Earth's weight presses out their water; heat and pressure burst their molecules, and sandstone changes into quartzite.

    Academic text (1998)
  • He mandated that each 32-kilo slab be a 50-by-50-centimeter, handcrafted piece of quartzite.

    Academic text (2012)
  • It keeps the form of quartzite—that milky gray mineral—to very great depths, where at last the quartzite melts and mixes in magma.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The Sioux quartzite used in the buildings gives them a unique and sturdy appearance.

  • During the hike, I noticed the sharp edges of the quartzite scattered among the rocks.

  • The geologist explained that quartzite is formed under extreme heat and pressure from sandstone.

Synonyms

rock
vsquartzite
1.0

Hard natural stone that you find on the ground or underground

is formed from sandstone under heat and pressure and rich in quartz crystals
stone
vsquartzite
976 1.0

A hard natural rock used for building or a small piece of it

is a hard metamorphic rock composed mainly of interlocking quartz crystals
metamorphic rock
vsquartzite
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A rock changed by heat and pressure inside the earth

is specifically made mostly of interlocking quartz crystals from sandstone

How Hard

granite
64 3.5
quartzite
  • Specialized
1 8.8
sandstone
  • Specialized
18 3.3
shale
  • Specialized
57 5.7

Surface Forms

quartzite singular
quartzites plural

Morphology

quartzite = quartz (transparent) = quartz + ite

Formed by the noun 'quartz' plus the mineral-forming suffix '-ite', meaning a rock composed mainly of quartz.

Etymology

Quartzite comes from the mineral quartz and the ending -ite, which is used for rocks and minerals, so it can be remembered as the 'rock of quartz'. That's why quartzite refers to a very hard rock made mostly of quartz.