Definition

1. Verb:
   • To alter by exposure to air with conversion at least in part to a carbonate: The process of a material, especially quicklime, undergoing a chemical change when exposed to moist air, resulting in partial or complete conversion to a carbonate or hydroxide.

Usage

• This is a technical term primarily used in chemistry, construction, and industrial contexts. It describes a specific chemical weathering process.
• The verb is typically used in the passive voice or as a transitive verb with a direct object (the material being altered).

Examples

• Verb:
  • The pile of quicklime was left to air-slake in the yard.
  • To make it safer for handling, they needed to air-slake the lime completely.
  • The process will air-slake the calcium oxide, converting it to calcium hydroxide.

Advanced Usage

• Technical Context: The term is almost exclusively used in technical descriptions of material science, historic building restoration, or industrial processes involving lime.
  • Traditional mortar recipes often involved using air-slaked lime.

Variants and Related Words

• Slaking (n): The general process of combining a substance with water or, in this specific case, atmospheric moisture.
• Air-slaked (adj): Describes a material that has undergone the air-slaking process.
  • We used air-slaked lime for the plaster.

Synonyms

• Weather: In a specific chemical context, to undergo change by exposure to the atmosphere.
• Carbonate: (As a verb) To convert into a carbonate, which is a key part of the air-slaking process for lime.

Notes

• The term is highly specific. The most common and direct usage is in the phrase "air-slake lime," referring to the process where quicklime (calcium oxide) absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide from the air to become calcium hydroxide and eventually calcium carbonate.

Verb

1. alter by exposure to air with conversion at least in part to a carbonate
   • air-slake lime