From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgraphitegraph‧ite /ˈɡræfaɪt/ noun [uncountable] HCa soft black substance that is a kind of carbon, used in pencils, paints, and electrical equipment
Examples from the Corpus
graphite• With a little research he found that a $ 400 graphite rod is not a requirement for success.• For example, graphite only conducts electricity in the direction along its layers.• Less fortunate caste members provided much of the labour for graphite mines.• Non-metals tend to be insulators although, as we have seen, graphite is a conductor of electricity.• Released from those conditions, diamonds will revert within minutes to the more pedestrian substance graphite.• By changing the amount of clay included when firing the graphite, pencils could be graded according to softness.• Can smell the graphite salve, like the smell in a garage.• The graphite boom temporarily reduced the social and economic importance of subsistence agriculture in the Low Country.Origin graphite (1700-1800) German graphit, from Greek graphein ( → -GRAPHY); because it is used in pencils 