Definition of "graphite" []

• A soft, steel-gray to black, hexagonally crystallized allotrope of carbon with a metallic luster and a greasy feel, used in lead pencils, lubricants, paints, and coatings, that is fabricated into a variety of forms such as molds, bricks, electrodes, crucibles, and rocket nozzles. Also called black lead, plumbago. (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.

• "Liquid graphite is black, slick and somewhat messy, and will require a good cleaning prior to using the rifle."
• "Less graphite is required in creating the rod blanks, which, according to Whiting, "have the performance of graphite and the durability of fiberglass.""
• "One of the benefits of using graphite is that it keeps the silver from oxidizing, so bullets come out bright and shiny."