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Alum   /ˈæləm/  /əlˈəm/   Listen
noun
Alum  n.  (Chem.) A double sulphate formed of aluminium and some other element (esp. an alkali metal) or of aluminium. It has twenty-four molecules of water of crystallization. Note: Common alum is the double sulphate of aluminium and potassium. It is white, transparent, very astringent, and crystallizes easily in octahedrons. The term is extended so as to include other double sulphates similar to alum in formula.



verb
Alum  v. t.  To steep in, or otherwise impregnate with, a solution of alum; to treat with alum.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Alum" Quotes from Famous Books



... wouldn't be wuth cracklins ef ye didn't. I wouldn't gin four cents fer a man thet didn't git into truble; hit trys 'em out an' ye ken tell what they're made uf. Look at all the men ye know who don't know enuf to make truble. What do they amount to? Why they ain't got enuf grit in 'em to suck alum." ...
— Watch Yourself Go By • Al. G. Field

... priests held a pile of white powder on a small wooden stand. This was said to be salt—which in Japan is credited with great cleansing properties—but as far as could be ascertained by superficial examination it was a mixture of alum and salt. He stood at one end of the fire-bed and poised the wooden tray over his head, and then sprinkled a handful of it on the ground before the glowing bed of coals. At the same time another priest who stood by him chanted a weird ...
— The Miracle Mongers, an Expos • Harry Houdini

... to moulder away, like the base of some proud column of antiquity. On the opposite coast is Hurst Castle, a circular fort, built by Henry 176the Eighth; and on the north side of the promontory is Alum Bay, the most beautiful and unique feature of the sea cliffs of Albion. For about a quarter of a mile from the Needles the precipice is one entire glare of white chalk, which curves round to, and is joined by a most extraordinary mixture of vertical strata, composed of coloured ...
— The English Spy • Bernard Blackmantle

... the setting of the plaster, but will not preserve its hardening. Marshmallow powder also retards the setting. In this way the plaster may be handled a long time without getting hard. If you wish the plaster to set extra hard, then add a little sulphate of potash, or powdered alum. ...
— The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 - 700 Things For Boys To Do • Popular Mechanics

... o'ertake his sins, Be stopp'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins; Or plunged in lakes of bitter washes lie, Or wedged whole ages in a bodkin's eye: Gums and pomatums shall his flight restrain, While, clogg'd, he beats his silken wings in vain; 130 Or alum styptics with contracting power Shrink his thin essence like a rivell'd flower: Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel The giddy motion of the whirling mill, In fumes of burning chocolate shall glow, And tremble at ...
— The Poetical Works Of Alexander Pope, Vol. 1 • Alexander Pope et al


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