Definition of "emery" [em•er•y]

• A fine-grained impure corundum used for grinding and polishing. (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.

• "Still another variety, greyish-black and generally associated with hæmatite iron ore, is called emery, and, when ground in different degrees of fineness, is so well known by its general use as a polishing medium as to need no description."
• "Herein also is the kind of corundum known as emery, and esteemed for its polishing properties."
• "Several authors mention the use of emery, which technically is a fine sand made from a very hard form of aluminum oxide (corundum) which has a Mohs scale hardness of 9, but the term has been used loosely as "emery" per se was not available in Egypt."