GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Effloresce , v. i.   [imp. & p. p. Effloresced ; p. pr. & vb. n. Efflorescing .] [L. efflorescere to bloom, blossom; ex + florescere to begin to blossom, incho., fr. florere to blossom, fr. flos a flower. See Flower.]
   To blossom forth.
   Carlyle.
   
   1913 Webster
   (Chem.) To change on the surface, or throughout, to a whitish, mealy, or crystalline powder, from a gradual decomposition, esp. from the loss of water, on simple exposure to the air; as, Glauber's salts, and many others, effloresce.
   1913 Webster
   To become covered with a whitish crust or light crystallization, from a slow chemical change between some of the ingredients of the matter covered and an acid proceeding commonly from an external source; as, the walls of limestone caverns sometimes effloresce with nitrate of calcium in consequence of the action of nitric acid formed in the atmosphere.
   1913 Webster