- a colourless mineral often tinted by impurities, found in igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. It is used in the manufacture of glass, abrasives, and cement, and also as a gemstone; the violet-purple variety is amethyst, the brown variety is cairngorm, the yellow variety is citrine, and the pink variety is rose quartz. Composition: silicon dioxide. Formula: SiO2. Crystal structure: hexagonal
- short for quartz glass
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
quartz /kwɔrts/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Mineralogya mineral, silicon dioxide, found in crystals and grains, and the chief part of sand.
quartz
(kwôrts),USA pronunciation n.
quartz•ose
(kwôrt′sōs),USA pronunciation quartz•ous
(kwôrt′səs),USA pronunciation adj.
- Mineralogyone of the commonest minerals, silicon dioxide, SiO2, having many varieties that differ in color, luster, etc., and occurring either in masses (as agate, bloodstone, chalcedony, jasper, etc.) or in crystals (as rock crystal, amethyst, citrine, etc.): the chief constituent of sand and sandstone, and an important constituent of many other rocks. It is piezoelectric and used to control the frequencies of radio transmitters.
- German Quarz
- 1750–60;
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
quartz /kwɔːts/ n
'quartz' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
agate
- amethyst
- aventurine
- cairngorm
- chalcedony
- citrine
- clay
- crystal
- endomorph
- etalon
- flint
- gangue
- ganister
- Geissler tube
- granite
- greensand
- headlight
- jasper
- pegmatite
- quartz clock
- quartz crystal
- quartz glass
- quartz-iodine lamp
- quartzite
- reef
- rhyolite
- rock crystal
- rutile
- sand
- sandstone
- scheelite
- silex
- silica
- silicon
- silicosis
- smoky quartz
- stibnite
- topaz
- wolframite
- aplite
- arc light
- arkose
- bastard
- chert
- coesite
- cristobalite
- crop
- eclogite
- emplectite
- felsic