gutta-percha
/ɡʌɾəˈpɝtʃə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.72 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Resin, pitch, sealing-wax, caoutchouc, sulphur, gutta-percha, and generally all bodies commonly termed resinous, besides a great variety of others, will be found to acquire, after friction, the power of attracting light bodies, and hence will be said, according to a limitation of terms already accepted, to be in an electrized or electrified state ."
- "No player shall be allowed to wear projecting nails, iron plates, or gutta percha on the soles or heels of his boots."
- "BRITISH CONSTRUCTION OF TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS. R. S. Culley states that small insulators, formed of good porcelain, are the best, although, on several accounts, ebonite is recommended. Dirt and moisture are the principal things to be guarded against, but not all; for many mischievous boys, who would not take the trouble to break an unpretending black cap, can not resist the temptation of throwing at a large white one. Insects, especially spiders, are a source of peculiar annoyance. In the high roads of Ireland they are very troublesome, and in India, however large an insulator may be, an insect of the proper size is always ready to inhabit it. With respect to the construction of a line of telegraph the author states that it is preferable to use suspended rather than buried wires, because of the liability of gutta-percha and india-rubber to deteriorate underground, the expense of repairing faults, and the retardation of signals in consequence of the greater inductive capacity of wires so laid. On the other hand, gutta-percha is indestructible in sea-water, which is not, however, the case with india-rubber."
- "They wandered together along the shore with a couple of old "cleeks" brought from England and some wretched gutta-percha golf balls, to be driven on their last afternoon gloriously into the sea."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɡʌɾəˈpɝtʃə/
- British English: /ɡʌtəˈpɜːtʃə/