Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Effloresce"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Effloresce \Ef`flo*resce"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Effloresced};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Efflorescing}.] [L. efflorescere to bloom,
blossom; ex + florescere to begin to blossom, incho., fr.
florere to blossom, fr. flos a flower. See {Flower}.]
1. To blossom forth. --Carlyle.
2. (Chem.) To change on the surface, or throughout, to a
whitish, mealy, or crystalline powder, from a gradual
decomposition, esp. from the loss of water, on simple
exposure to the air; as, Glauber's salts, and many others,
effloresce.
3. To become covered with a whitish crust or light
crystallization, from a slow chemical change between some
of the ingredients of the matter covered and an acid
proceeding commonly from an external source; as, the walls
of limestone caverns sometimes effloresce with nitrate of
calcium in consequence of the action in consequence of
nitric acid formed in the atmosphere.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
effloresce
v 1: burst forth into or as if into flower; "These
manifestations effloresced in the past" [syn: {burst
forth}]
2: assume crystalline form; become crystallized [syn: {crystallize},
{crystalize}, {crystalise}]
3: become encrusted with crystals due to evaporation
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