tantalum
noun
tan·ta·lum
| \ ˈtan-tə-ləm
\
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Definition of tantalum
: a gray-white ductile acid-resisting metallic element found combined in rare minerals (such as tantalite and columbite) and used especially in electronic components — see Chemical Elements Table
Examples of tantalum in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Congo produces some two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, a mineral key in the production of lithium-ion batteries that power laptops and electric cars, as well as coltan, copper, tantalum and tin, all used in modern electronics. — Gabriele Steinhauser, WSJ, "Congo Votes in Contentious Election," 30 Dec. 2018 Congo produces some two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, a mineral used in the production of lithium-ion batteries that power laptops and electric cars, and coltan, copper, tantalum and tin, all used in modern electronics. — Nicholas Bariyo, WSJ, "Congo Keeps Voters in the Dark About Election Results," 2 Jan. 2019 The province is also close to the Ugandan and Rwandan borders, a major regional trade center for a range of commodities including mineral exports such as tin, tantalum and gold out of eastern Congo. — Nicholas Bariyo, WSJ, "Ebola Outbreak Spreads to Conflict Zone in Democratic Republic of Congo," 14 Aug. 2018 Yes, things like that, or conflict minerals disclosure [which required companies to tell investors whether their products contained tantalum, tin, gold, or tungsten mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo]. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "The first woman president of the NYSE would really rather not talk about her gender," 14 June 2018 Of these metals, tantalum exhibits a particularly appealing dark and stealthy lustre and was something of a signature material for the brand. — Wei Koh, A-LIST, "How the Watch Industry Plundered the Periodic Table," 3 Apr. 2018 The new code raises taxes on other metals such as copper, tantalum and gold and scraps a provision that protects license holders from complying with any changes to the mining code for 10 years. — Nicholas Bariyo, WSJ, "Mining Giants Face Blow From World’s No. 1 Cobalt Producer," 8 Mar. 2018 The new model suggests our home planet contains significantly more sodium, potassium, chlorine, zinc, strontium, fluorine, gallium, rubidium, niobium, gadolinium, tantalum, helium, argon, and krypton than previously believed. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Create Most Accurate Estimate of Earth's Composition," 18 Sep. 2017 China’s Limac Corp. and North Korea’s Ryonbong General Corp. set up a joint venture in 2008 to mine tantalum, niobium and zirconium, minerals that are useful in making phones and computers but also nuclear reactors and missiles. …. — James Hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Ivanka Trump’s life of privilege undermines the credibility of her new book’s message," 8 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tantalum.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for tantalum
tantalum
noun
tan·ta·lum
| \ ˈtant-ᵊl-əm
\
\
Medical Definition of tantalum
: a hard ductile gray-white acid-resisting metallic element of the vanadium family found combined in rare minerals and sometimes used in surgical implants and sutures
—symbol Ta
— see Chemical Elements Table