graphite

/ˈɡræfaɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈɡræfaɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈgra-ˌfīt/ (ame, mw)

graphite — noun

1. a soft grey-black mineral made from pure carbon. Graphite is what makes the dark

1.名詞B2
釋義

a soft grey-black mineral made from pure carbon. Graphite is what makes the dark mark when you draw with a pencil, and it is also used to help machine parts slide smoothly and inside some nuclear reactors.

例句

Paloma sharpened her pencil and a small pile of graphite dust fell onto the desk.

uncountable noun: graphite dust

The artist preferred soft graphite for shading because it left a darker, smoother line.

collocation: soft graphite

同義詞
  • plumbago

    old-fashioned and technical name for the same mineral; rarely used today outside mineralogy texts

  • black lead

    historical British term; learners may meet it in older novels but it is misleading because no lead is involved

用法筆記

Almost always uncountable; you say 'a piece of graphite' or 'graphite powder', not 'a graphite'. The plural 'graphites' only appears in technical writing about different grades of the material.

常見錯誤

❌The pencil is made of lead.
✅The pencil is made of graphite.
💡modern pencils have never contained lead; the dark core is graphite mixed with clay.
❌I bought two graphites at the art shop.
✅I bought two graphite pencils at the art shop.
💡graphite is uncountable, so count the object that contains it instead.