quicksilver
         adj 1: liable to sudden unpredictable change; "erratic
                  behavior"; "fickle weather"; "mercurial twists of
                  temperament"; "a quicksilver character, cool and willful
                  at one moment, utterly fragile the next" [syn: {erratic},
                  {fickle}, {mercurial}, {quicksilver(a)}]
         n 1: a heavy silvery toxic univalent and bivalent metallic
               element; the only metal that is liquid at ordinary
               temperatures [syn: {mercury}, {quicksilver}, {hydrargyrum},
               {Hg}, {atomic number 80}]

English Dictionary: quicksilver	by the DICT Development Group
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quacksalver \Quack"sal*ver\, n. [D. kwakzalver; cf. kwakzalven       to quack or boast of one's salves. See {Quack}, {Salve}, n.]       One who boasts of his skill in medicines and salves, or of       the efficacy of his prescriptions; a charlatan; a quack; a       mountebank. [Obs.] --Burton.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mercury \Mer"cu*ry\, n. [L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares.]       1. (Rom. Myth.) A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated             by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger             of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and             god of eloquence.          2. (Chem.) A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction             from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque,             glistening liquid (commonly called {quicksilver}), and is             used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity             13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8.             Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It             was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and             designated by his symbol, [mercury].          Note: Mercury forms alloys, called amalgams, with many                metals, and is thus used in applying tin foil to the                backs of mirrors, and in extracting gold and silver                from their ores. It is poisonous, and is used in                medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its                compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is                the only metal which is liquid at ordinary                temperatures, and it solidifies at about -39[deg]                Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.          3. (Astron.) One of the planets of the solar system, being             the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is             about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its             diameter 3,000 miles.          4. A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also,             a newspaper. --Sir J. Stephen. [bd]The monthly             Mercuries.[b8] --Macaulay.          5. Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability;             fickleness. [Obs.]                         He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long                      in any friendship, or to any design.   --Bp. Burnet.          6. (Bot.) A plant ({Mercurialis annua}), of the Spurge             family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for             spinach, in Europe.          Note: The name is also applied, in the United States, to                certain climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to                the skin, esp. to the {Rhus Toxicodendron}, or poison                ivy.          {Dog's mercury} (Bot.), {Mercurialis perennis}, a perennial             plant differing from {M. annua} by having the leaves             sessile.          {English mercury} (Bot.), a kind of goosefoot formerly used             as a pot herb; -- called {Good King Henry}.          {Horn mercury} (Min.), a mineral chloride of mercury, having             a semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilver \Quick"sil`ver\, n. [Quick living + silver; -- so       called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber, L. argentum       vivum. See {Quick}, a.] (Chem.)       The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to       liquid silver.          {Quicksilver horizon}, a mercurial artificial horizon. See             under {Horizon}.          {Quicksilver water}, a solution of mercury nitrate used in             artificial silvering; quick water.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Mercury \Mer"cu*ry\, n. [L. Mercurius; akin to merx wares.]       1. (Rom. Myth.) A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated             by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger             of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and             god of eloquence.          2. (Chem.) A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction             from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque,             glistening liquid (commonly called {quicksilver}), and is             used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity             13.6. Symbol Hg (Hydrargyrum). Atomic weight 199.8.             Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It             was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and             designated by his symbol, [mercury].          Note: Mercury forms alloys, called amalgams, with many                metals, and is thus used in applying tin foil to the                backs of mirrors, and in extracting gold and silver                from their ores. It is poisonous, and is used in                medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its                compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is                the only metal which is liquid at ordinary                temperatures, and it solidifies at about -39[deg]                Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.          3. (Astron.) One of the planets of the solar system, being             the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is             about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its             diameter 3,000 miles.          4. A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also,             a newspaper. --Sir J. Stephen. [bd]The monthly             Mercuries.[b8] --Macaulay.          5. Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability;             fickleness. [Obs.]                         He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long                      in any friendship, or to any design.   --Bp. Burnet.          6. (Bot.) A plant ({Mercurialis annua}), of the Spurge             family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for             spinach, in Europe.          Note: The name is also applied, in the United States, to                certain climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to                the skin, esp. to the {Rhus Toxicodendron}, or poison                ivy.          {Dog's mercury} (Bot.), {Mercurialis perennis}, a perennial             plant differing from {M. annua} by having the leaves             sessile.          {English mercury} (Bot.), a kind of goosefoot formerly used             as a pot herb; -- called {Good King Henry}.          {Horn mercury} (Min.), a mineral chloride of mercury, having             a semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilver \Quick"sil`ver\, n. [Quick living + silver; -- so       called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber, L. argentum       vivum. See {Quick}, a.] (Chem.)       The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to       liquid silver.          {Quicksilver horizon}, a mercurial artificial horizon. See             under {Horizon}.          {Quicksilver water}, a solution of mercury nitrate used in             artificial silvering; quick water.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilver \Quick"sil`ver\, n. [Quick living + silver; -- so       called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber, L. argentum       vivum. See {Quick}, a.] (Chem.)       The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to       liquid silver.          {Quicksilver horizon}, a mercurial artificial horizon. See             under {Horizon}.          {Quicksilver water}, a solution of mercury nitrate used in             artificial silvering; quick water.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilver \Quick"sil`ver\, n. [Quick living + silver; -- so       called from its fluidity; cf. G. quecksilber, L. argentum       vivum. See {Quick}, a.] (Chem.)       The metal mercury; -- so called from its resemblance to       liquid silver.          {Quicksilver horizon}, a mercurial artificial horizon. See             under {Horizon}.          {Quicksilver water}, a solution of mercury nitrate used in             artificial silvering; quick water.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilvered \Quick"sil`vered\, a.       Overlaid with quicksilver, or with an amalgam of quicksilver       and tinfoil.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Quicksilvering \Quick"sil`ver*ing\, n.       The mercury and foil on the back of a looking-glass.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
Quicksilver          A {dBASE}-like compiler for {MS-DOS} from       {WordTech}.          (1995-05-11)