Definition of "apatite" []

• A natural, variously colored calcium fluoride phosphate, Ca5F(PO4)3, with chlorine, hydroxyl, or carbonate sometimes replacing the fluoride. It is a source of phosphorus for plants and is used in the manufacture of fertilizers. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And one of the properties of [hydroxy] apatite is that you can have supersaturated solutions of calcium and phosphate that can be maintained quite stably."
• "His team took a detailed look at a mineral within the basalt called apatite using an ion microprobe that can analyze grains much smaller than the width of a human hair."
• "The extent of processing the so-called apatite concentrate produced by your feedstock suppliers is not being regulated in any way."