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Glite Dictionary
tin pest

tin pest

9.9
A change in tin that makes it break easily and turn into grey powder in very cold weather
  • noun
  • /tɪn pɛst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : plaga del estaño
  • At subzero temperatures, tin pest can cause electronic components to fail due to the crumbling of tin solder.

Examples

  • Scientists studied the effects of tin pest on antique organ pipes exposed to severe cold.

  • The phenomenon of tin pest was first observed in Europe during particularly harsh winters.

  • The tin pest affected the statue during the cold winter.

  • Have you ever seen tin pests in old metal artifacts?

  • At subzero temperatures, tin pest can cause electronic components to fail due to the crumbling of tin solder.

  • Scientists studied the effects of tin pest on antique organ pipes exposed to severe cold.

  • The phenomenon of tin pest was first observed in Europe during particularly harsh winters.

Synonyms

tin plague
vstin pest
  • Specialized
9.9

White tin turns into a brittle grey powder in very cold temperatures

is the identical concept but expressed with a different name
tin disease
vstin pest
  • Specialized
9.9

White tin turns into grey powder at low temperatures and makes metal crumble

focuses on the transformation itself rather than on resulting metal damage

Surface Forms

tin pest singular
tin pests plural

Morphology

tin + pest

The noun 'pest' conveys a general idea of a damaging affliction, so a learner who knows 'tin' and 'pest' could infer that this refers to some problem affecting tin. However, the precise meaning — a specific low-temperature phase transformation causing tin to become brittle and powdery — is a technical, specialised sense not predictable from the constituents alone. Because the relation is metaphorical and domain-specific rather than transparently compositional, it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The noun tin pest comes from the image of tin being eaten away like a pest. At very low temperatures the metal can change into a soft grey powder and 'crumble', so the name means 'the change that makes tin fall apart in very cold conditions'.