Definition of rare earth
1
: any of a group of similar oxides of metals or a mixture of such oxides occurring together in widely distributed but relatively scarce minerals
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Recent Examples of rare earth from the Web
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Chinese firms are interested in mining zinc, uranium and rare earths in Greenland.
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The country sits on an estimated $6 trillion worth of mineral reserves, including iron, gold, zinc, graphite and a host of rare earth materials needed in the production of smartphones and other high tech products.
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The blobs are not rocks, but naturally-occurring metallic nodules that could one day yield metal deposits of cobalt, manganese, and nickel—not to mention scarce rare earth minerals.
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China may respond by selling U.S. Treasuries, currency devaluation, or seeking a rare earth ban.
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The impacts of extracting crystals are admittedly low compared to those of industrial gold, copper, granite, or rare earth mining.
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His PhD thesis, completed there in 1969, used optical spectroscopy to determine splits in the energy levels of rare earth ions in garnets under the influence of the electromagnetic fields of the crystals.
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More research needs to be done on methods of extracting the rare earths continuously, Prof.
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China produces about 85% of the world’s rare earths.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'rare earth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of rare earth
1875
Medical Dictionary
noun
\
ˌrer-ˈərth
\
medical Definition of rare earth
1
: any of a group of similar oxides of metals or a mixture of such oxides occurring together in widely distributed but relatively scarce minerals
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