Definition of "ebonite" [eb•on•ite]

• A relatively inelastic rubber, made by vulcanization with a large amount of sulfur and used as an electrical insulating material. (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.

• "The addition of about fifty per cent. changes the rubber to a hard black substance known as "ebonite," or "hard rubber.""
• "I may mention as a curious thing that these ravenous animals, that devoured everything they came across, even to the ebonite points of our ski-sticks, never made any attempt to break into the provision cases."
• "One way that they can be produced is as follows: A sharp-pointed needle is placed perpendicular to a non-conducting plate, such as of resin, ebonite, or glass, with its point very near to or in contact with the plate, and a high voltage Leyden jar a type of capacitor or a static electricity generator is discharged into the needle."