PHOSPHORUS

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A planet (usually Venus) seen just before sunrise in the eastern sky

Synonyms:

daystar; Lucifer; morning star; Phosphorus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("Phosphorus" is a kind of...):

major planet; planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A multivalent nonmetallic element of the nitrogen family that occurs commonly in inorganic phosphate rocks and as organic phosphates in all living cells; is highly reactive and occurs in several allotropic forms

Synonyms:

atomic number 15; P; phosphorus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("phosphorus" is a kind of...):

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Holonyms ("phosphorus" is a substance of...):

apatite (a common complex mineral consisting of calcium fluoride phosphate or calcium chloride phosphate; a source of phosphorus)

Derivation:

phosphoric; phosphorous (containing or characteristic of phosphorus)

Credits

Context examples:

A chemical or drug that is attached to a lipid (fat) that contains phosphorus.

(Phospholipid, NCI Dictionary)

Phosphorus ion requiring five electrons to return to its elemental state.

(P5+, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)

Vitamin D helps the body use calcium and phosphorus to make strong bones and teeth.

(D Vitamin, NCI Dictionary)

A family of lipo-soluble steroids important to the absorption, metabolism, and function of calcium and phosphorus and the growth and development of bone and tooth enamel.

(D Vitamin, NCI Thesaurus)

A new study now suggests that life as we know it is more unusual than previously thought because the universe substantially lacks phosphorus.

(Finding Alien Life Unlikely Due to Lack of Phosphorus in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Astronomers have now traced the journey of phosphorus from star-forming regions to comets using the combined powers of ALMA and the European Space Agency’s probe Rosetta.

(Astronomers Reveal Interstellar Thread of One of Life’s Building Blocks, ESO)

Factors that contribute to the development of neonatal rickets include calcium, phosphorus, or calciferol deficiency.

(Neonatal Rickets, NCI Thesaurus)

The glands secrete parathyroid hormone and are concerned with the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.

(Murine Parathyroid Gland, NCI Thesaurus)

The agent also causes retention of nitrogen, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, as well as calcium.

(Methyltestosterone, NCI Thesaurus)

Similar to testosterone, fluoxymesterone binds to and activates specific nuclear receptors, resulting in an increase in protein anabolism, a decrease in amino acid catabolism, and retention of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.