crystalline

Everyday

1. (science) Made of crystals or having the regular, repeating structure of a crystal: «Salt is a crystalline solid». tree →
2. (literary) Very clear, bright and sparkling, like crystal: «crystalline water». tree →
3. (of sound or speech) Very clear and pure: «a crystalline voice». tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons on solids and materials, crystalline substances (salt, sugar, quartz, ice, snowflakes) have particles arranged in a neat repeating pattern, giving flat faces and sharp edges; when you grow crystals from salt or sugar water you make crystalline solids. In stories and poems, «crystalline» describes clear lakes, icy air or bright voices. Phrases: «crystalline solid», «crystalline structure», «crystalline waters».

Examples

• Salt and sugar are crystalline solids. tree →
• Under the microscope, the snowflake showed a crystalline pattern. tree →
• Quartz has a crystalline structure. tree →
• We swam in the crystalline waters of the bay. tree →
• Her crystalline voice filled the church. tree →
• Glass looks like crystal but is not crystalline inside. tree →
• Diamonds are crystalline forms of carbon. tree →

Note

Said «KRIS-tuh-line» or «KRIS-tuh-leen». Trap: «crystal glass» in kitchens is not crystalline in the scientific sense; glass has a jumbled, non-crystalline structure. The opposite in science is «amorphous» (without a regular shape inside).