elutriation
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e·lu·tri·ate
(ĭ-lo͞o′trē-āt′)tr.v. e·lu·tri·at·ed, e·lu·tri·at·ing, e·lu·tri·ates
1. To purify, separate, or remove (ore, for example) by washing, decanting, and settling.
2. To wash away the lighter or finer particles of (soil, for example).
[Latin elutriāre, elutriāt- (from *elutrium, vat, bath, from Greek *elutrion, diminutive of elutron, cover, sheath, tank; see elytron) or ēlūtriāre (from *ēlūtor, one who washes, from ēluere, to wash out; see elute).]
e·lu′tri·a′tion n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
elutriation
the process of elutriating, or purification by washing and straining.
See also: Cleanliness, Processes-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.