STREAK

Streak

The streak of a mineral is the color of the powder produced when it is dragged across an unweathered surface. Unlike the apparent color of a mineral, which for most minerals can vary considerably, the trail of finely ground powder generally has a more consistent characteristic color, and is thus an important diagnostic tool in mineral identification. If no streak seems to be made, the mineral's streak is said to be white or colorless. Streak is particularly important as a diagnostic for opaque and colored materials. It is less useful for silicate minerals, most of which have a white streak and are too hard to powder easily.

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Streak (mineralogy)
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streak

Noun

  1. An irregular line left from smearing or motion.
  2. A continuous series of like events.
  3. The color of the powder of a mineral. So called, because a simple field test for a mineral is to streak it against unglazed white porcelain.
  4. A moth of the family Geometridae .
  5. A tendency or characteristic, but not a dominant or pervasive one.
  6. A strake.
  7. A rung or round of a ladder.

Verb

  1. to have or obtain streaks.
    If you clean a window in direct sunlight, it will streak.
  2. to run naked in public
    It was a pleasant game until some guy went streaking across the field.
  3. to create streaks
    You will streak a window by cleaning it in direct sunlight.
  4. To move very swiftly.
  5. To stretch; to extend; hence, to lay out, as a dead body.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: streak
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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