Definition of "martensite" []

• A solid solution of iron and up to one percent of carbon, the chief constituent of hardened carbon tool steels. (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.

• "This structure is called martensite and is desired when maximum hardness is essential."
• "In the ordinary practice of hardening steels, the quenching is not so drastic, and the transformation of austenite back to ferrite and cementite is more or less completely effected, giving rise to certain transitory forms which are known as "martensite," "troostite," "sorbite," and finally, pearlite."
• "The engineers are running programs that show how adding tiny amounts of alloys to ferrite and martensite—crystalline structures of iron—during the steelmaking process changes the steel's strength, as well as its ability to be shaped into different parts."