triturate

The pharmacist uses a mortar and pestle to triturate the dried herbs.

Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To grind, crush, or pound into a fine powder or paste: "triturate" refers to the process of reducing a solid substance to a very fine, often powdery, consistency by rubbing, grinding, or crushing it, especially in a mortar with a pestle.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The pharmacist triturated the dried herbs into a fine powder for the medicine. (The pharmacist ground the herbs into a powder.)
  • In the laboratory, the chemist triturated the mineral sample to analyze its composition. (The chemist crushed the sample into a fine substance.)

Advanced Usage

• "to triturate with a solvent": to grind a substance while mixing it with a liquid to create a suspension or paste.

  • The technician triturated the tablet with a small amount of water to form a paste for application. (The technician ground the tablet with water to make a paste.)

• "trituration" (noun): the process or result of triturating.

  • The trituration of the compound was completed in five minutes. (The grinding process was finished.)

Variants and Related Words

• Trituration (n): the act or process of grinding into a fine powder; also, a powdered substance produced by this process.

  • The trituration of the drug improved its solubility. (The grinding process made the drug dissolve better.)

• Triturator (n): a device or person that performs trituration.

  • The laboratory uses a mechanical triturator for large batches. (A machine that grinds substances.)

Synonyms

• Grind: to reduce to small particles by crushing or friction.
• Pulverize: to crush into a powder or dust.
• Pound: to strike repeatedly to break into pieces.
• Levigate: to grind into a fine powder or smooth paste, often with a liquid.

Phrasal Verbs

• Triturate down: to grind something until it becomes a powder (less common, but used in technical contexts).
  • The sample was triturated down to a fine dust. (Ground into a powder.)

Related Idioms

• Triturate the evidence: (rare, figurative) to destroy or obscure evidence by breaking it down; not a standard idiom, but used in some legal or metaphorical contexts.
  • The suspect tried to triturate the documents to hide the facts. (He tried to destroy the papers by shredding them.)

Additional Notes

• Field: This word is primarily used in pharmacy, chemistry, and medicine, especially in contexts involving the preparation of powders, ointments, or suspensions. It is less common in everyday language.