INDEX:
1. not mixed with anything else
2. to make a substance pure
3. not pure
RELATED WORDS
containing no dirt or bacteria : ↑ CLEAN (2)
food, products etc that are produced without using chemicals : ↑ NATURAL (2)
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1. not mixed with anything else
▷ pure /pjʊəʳ/ [adjective]
not mixed with anything else :
▪ The bottle contained 4 litres of pure alcohol.
▪ When it first comes out of the ground, the oil is not very pure.
pure silk/wool/cotton
▪ Clothes made of pure cotton are much cooler than those made of mixed fibers.
20%/50% etc pure
▪ Crude cocaine is only about 25 percent pure.
purity [uncountable noun]
▪ The gold is then tested to determine its purity to determine how pure it is .
▷ solid /ˈsɒlɪd, ˈsɒlədǁˈsɑː-/ [adjective only before noun]
solid gold/silver/pine etc
made of gold, silver, wood etc that has not been mixed with any other metal or wood :
▪ a solid gold necklace
▪ The antiques dealer guessed that the furniture was Victorian and solid mahogany.
▷ 100% /ˌhʌndrɪd pəʳˈsent, ˌhʌndrəd pəʳˈsent/ [adverb]
if something is 100% beef, 100% cotton etc, it is made only from beef or cotton, and has no other food or material added to it :
▪ The label said ‘100% wool’.
▪ The hamburgers at this restaurant are 100% beef.
▪ a 100% graphite tennis racket
▷ neat/straight /niːt, streɪt/ [adjective]
if you have a strong alcoholic drink neat or straight, you do not mix it with another drink or with water :
▪ He always drinks his whisky neat.
▪ I’ll have a straight vodka please.
▷ unadulterated /ˌʌnəˈdʌltəreɪtɪd, ˌʌnəˈdʌltəreɪtəd/ [adjective]
not mixed with other less pure substances :
▪ Nowadays more and more people are choosing to buy unadulterated organic food, which has been grown without pesticides and chemicals.
2. to make a substance pure
▷ purify /ˈpjʊ ə rɪfaɪ, ˈpjʊ ə rəfaɪ/ [transitive verb]
▪ You can purify water by boiling and filtering it.
▪ It has been found that houseplants help purify the air.
▪ The solution is purified by passing it through a carbon filter.
▪ a bottle of purified linseed oil
▷ refine /rɪˈfaɪn/ [transitive verb]
to make a substance such as oil or metal pure using an industrial process :
▪ The oil is piped to the coast, where it is refined.
▪ The dealers buy raw cocaine in the south, refine it here, and smuggle it into the north.
▪ After the first refining process the metal is washed.
▪ refined petroleum
▷ distil British /distill American /dɪˈstɪl/ [transitive verb]
to make a liquid, for example alcohol or water, purer by heating it so that it becomes a gas and then allowing it to go cold again :
▪ My grandfather used to distil whisky on the farm.
▪ The solution is distilled until it is 95% pure.
▪ Only distilled water should be used for cleaning contact lenses.
distillation /ˌdɪstɪˈleɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ Steam distillation is used to purify liquids.
3. not pure
▷ impure /ɪmˈpjʊəʳ/ [adjective]
a substance that is impure is not pure and contains other substances :
▪ New laws restrict the sale of impure chemicals.
▪ The last sample was impure and quite useless for manufacturing purposes.
▷ impurity /ɪmˈpjʊ ə rɪti, ɪmˈpjʊ ə rəti/ [countable noun usually plural]
something in a substance which should not be in it and which makes it not pure :
▪ Lime is added to the liquid metal to remove all the impurities .
▪ There were impurities in the aluminum.