HOW TO PRONOUNCE
agate
/əˈɡeɪt/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:49
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What does agate mean?
noun
- A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two.
- One fourteenth of an inch.
- A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;—so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.
More meanings (5)
noun
- A marble made from agate.
- (slang) A testicle.
- (dated) The size of type between pearl and nonpareil, standardized as 5+¹⁄₂-point.
- (obsolete) A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals.
adverb
- (obsolete) On the way; agoing.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/əˈɡeɪt/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
His heart, like an agate, with your print impressed, Proud with his form, in his eye pride expressed.
They were agate gray and they looked too big for his face because they had black lashes all round them.
More book examples (3)
According to the great alchemist, Pierre de Boniface, the diamond rendered a man invisible, and the agate of India made him eloquent.
Most of these valuable old beads are of foreign manufacture, though a few made from shell and agate are of the country.
It is probable that the glass, porcelain, and agate beads, which are second only to the jars in importance, are exceedingly old.