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Definition of "meerschaum" [meer•schaum]

  • A fine, compact, usually white claylike mineral of hydrous magnesium silicate, H4Mg2Si3O10, found in the Mediterranean area and used in fashioning tobacco pipes and as a building stone. Also called sepiolite. (noun)
  • A tobacco pipe with a bowl made of this mineral. (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.

Use "meerschaum" in a sentence
  • "At length removing carefully his meerschaum from the right to the left corner of his mouth, he condescended to speak."
  • "For, your meerschaum is a fragile thing, and eminently frangible."
  • "To colour a meerschaum was the ambition of smokers, swearing was considered neither low nor vulgar, and snuffing was fashionable."