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In our 2004 survey, 65 percent accepted the sentence Pressure to marry may cause precipitous decision-making that is not grounded in the reality of who you are and what you want from life.įarlex Trivia Dictionary. to hasten the occurrence of bring about prematurely, hastily, or suddenly:to precipitate an international crisis. In fact, a majority of the Usage Panel now accepts this usage.
Define precipitate free#
After all a precipitous increase in reports of measles is also an abrupt or sudden event. The yellow precipitate of stannic sulphide obtained by adding sulphuretted hydrogen to a stannic solution readily dissolves in solutions of the alkaline sulphides to form thiostannates of the formula M 2 SnS 31 the free acid, H2SnS3, may be obtained as an almost black powder by drying the yellow precipitate formed when hydrochloric acid is. Many people object to this usage out of a desire to keep precipitate and precipitous distinct, but the extension of meaning from "steep" to "abrupt" is perfectly natural. But precipitous and precipitously are also frequently used to mean "abrupt, hasty," which takes them into territory that would ordinarily belong to precipitate and precipitately: their precipitous decision to leave. 119 ), on dissolving this precipitate in alcohol, and evaporating the solution, transparent foursided prisms are obtained, which turn dull and brown. Water vapor collects with other materials, such as dust, in clouds. Water vapor in the atmosphere is visible as clouds and fog. Or if you do that sort of thing regularly, you may be a precipitate person.
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Water vapor, droplets of water suspended in the air, builds up in the Earths atmosphere. When used as an adjective, precipitate means 'hasty' or 'acting suddenly.' If you decide to throw your class project in a trash masher just because someone in your class had a similar idea, then your actions might be described as precipitate. Precipitous currently means "steep" in both literal and figurative senses: the precipitous rapids of the upper river a precipitous drop in commodity prices. Precipitation is any type of water that forms in the Earths atmosphere and then drops onto the surface of the Earth. Usage Note: The adjective precipitate and the adverb precipitately were once applied to physical steepness but are now used primarily of rash, headlong actions: Their precipitate entry into the foreign markets led to disaster.
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