From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmercurymer·cu·ry /ˈmɜːkjəri $ ˈmɜːr-/ noun [uncountable] HCEa heavy silver-white poisonous metal that is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and is used in thermometers. It is a chemical element: symbol Hg
Examples from the Corpus
mercury• They calculate severe leaching of such toxic metals as beryllium, aluminum, mercury, lead, and cadmium.• Lighting is by two Floraset mercury vapour lamps which were originally set on a timer to give 11 hours of light.• The silvery substance clung to his skin, looking like tiny beads of mercury, as slippery as graphite between his fingers.• The restaurant is amply air-conditioned, since the mercury often creeps north in South Bay.• The monostable is an edge-triggered device which resets the timer every time the mercury rolls on to the switch contacts.• The final stage of circuit board construction is to insert the integrated circuit IC1 with the identification notch next to the mercury switch.• The mercury hovered around ninety, and so did the humidity.• The mercury method, so popular in the Roman period for gilding, can also be used for silvering bronze and brass.MercuryMercury noun HAthe planet that is nearest the Sun Temperatures on Mercury reach as high as 700 K.Examples from the Corpus
Mercury• Both Mercury and Mars have gravitational fields too low to retain an atmosphere.• A similar service is offered via e-mail by a company called Mercury Mail.• Whatever markings were seen, they did not shift detectably across the face of Mercury in the course of a night.• The shortest arm supports the red globe of Mercury.• Radar mapping of Mercury reveals a Moonlike cratered surface and no evidence of an atmosphere or oceans.• They had livelier personalities and danced roles such as Diana, goddess of the hunt, or Mercury, messenger of the gods.• But with ruler Mercury in direct motion from the 1st, you can make headway.• Test flights of the Redstone and Atlas rockets carrying unmanned Mercury capsules were taking place with varying degrees of success.Origin mercury (1300-1400) Mercury 