retort
1
9.3
- noun
- /rɪˈtɔrt/
- Specialized
:
retorta
- He'd built a chemical flask, officially named a retort, using a flower pot stolen from his mother, a parasol handle broken off a sunshade, and a rubber tube snitched from a baby's bottle.
So I invented the idea of suspending the bottle on a piece of wire from a retort stand.
- So I invented the idea of suspending the bottle on a piece of wire from a retort stand.
Examples
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Next to it was a table, and on the table stood bottles, stones, retorts, and opened books.
Fiction book (1993) -
The Estonians hope to spend $1 billion to build retorts in eastern Utah that would produce 25,000 b/d by 2020.
Blog text (9) -
How do we gain by seeing gold branch within the retort?
Fiction book (1991) -
Your still is cold; your retorts are coated with dust.
Fiction book (1992) -
The finished retort was put through its experimental paces in rain, spouting twisted into service as a furnace.
Fiction book (2000) -
In our cosmic research lab, we are accustomed to seeing her conjure routinely amid retorts and test tubes.
Fiction book (1996) -
The scientist heated the chemicals in a retort to observe the reaction.
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The distillation process requires a retort to separate the substances effectively.
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In ancient laboratories, glass retorts were commonly used for experiments.
How Obsolete
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word retort for the laboratory vessel comes from Latin parts re- 'back' and torquere 'to twist'. The image to remember is a bent neck that 'twists back' the vapour when you heat things, which is why a retort is the curved glass or metal vessel used in old labs.