asbestos

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.

   “All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.”

   “Asbestos insulation was once ubiquitous.”

   “Consul Baker, of Antung, China, states that valuable deposits of asbestos have been found in the vicinity of Kuantien, a small town lying about 45 miles northeast of Antung.[…]There are three mines now in operation, each employing about 30 workers. These workers, however, are mostly farmers who devote only their spare time to mining and use simply hammers and chisels and gather only the asbestos which lies near the surface.”

   “Insulation against sound and changes in external temperature is given by a thickness of asbestos on the inside of the panels.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals, asbestiforms
3. (attributive, colloquial, countable, uncountable)The supposed material composing part of the body that is impervious to heat, or by extension other unpleasant sensations; especially hot or spicy food.

   “She sipped the coffee; she always did have asbestos lips.”

   “They were exceptionally good and were accompanied by a chili sauce that had to be eaten with great caution unless you had an asbestos tongue but was nonetheless delicious.”

   “"Yikes!" I yelped. "This water is scalding!" Lena explained to me that she had asbestos hands. Since it was obvious that I did not have asbestos hands, I offered to dry rather than wash.”

   “Dad plucks the steamed Chinese charcuterie out with his asbestos fingers, places it on the wooden circular chopping board and begins slicing it into bite-size pieces before returning it to the pot.”

verb

1. To coat or line with asbestos.

   ““Be sure you have plenty of kindling before you begin. They are rather non-inflammable and well asbestosed, so to speak.””

   “The latter department will be asbestosed without according to the idea of Professor Swain, whose deductions are that you should wear an overcoat in summer for the reason that what will keep out the cold will keep out the heat.”

   “Q. And you considered asbestosing the interior as part of your job, is that correct? A. That’s right.”

   “Though respectable ladies thought him a rake, He red-leaded Mrs. Brown’s gutter and spout And asbestosed the furnace for Mrs. Stout, And oh, the six weeks he spent refluing The winter home of Mrs. Hewing!”

   “Compound (I) (1.5 g.) and benzaldehyde (1.1 g.) were refluxed in glacial acetic acid (30-35 ml.) in presence of fused sodium acetate (2.6 g.) on an asbestosed wire gauge for 3 hr.”

2. To expose to asbestos; to cause to suffer asbestosis.

   “Lungs asbestosed / unable to breath^([sic]) / and so incapable / of producing for profit / sent away without delay / so a fresh lunged / could occupy / the vacant place.”

3. (figuratively)To insulate or buffer.

   “Is Malcolm J. Miller’s South Carolina Sinking Fund partly immune, partly asbestosed, or what?”

   “Whatever air’s asbestosing the prayers / Of this sparse April parlour must splutter / To dust until it dismantles itself.”

   “Not enough if you / garlanded me before twenty, / asbestosed me several times / around the conjugal fire.”

   “Like the house, I’d had my shiny youth of new love, my stuccoed divorce, my asbestosed fallout of pipe pain and dry-rot, my ill-conceived disco years, and my disastrous mid-life reno.”

name

1. Former name of Val des Sources: a town in Asbestos, Estrie, Quebec, Canada.
2. Former name of Les Sources: a regional county municipality of Eastern Townships, Quebec, Canada.
3. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative spelling of Asbest; A town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Ural, Russia.