Meaning & use
filtrate
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablechemistry
The liquid that has passed through a filter, leaving solid material behind.
Grammar: Uncountable for the material in general: collect the filtrate.
Patterns
- the filtrate from something
The student collected the filtrate in a clean flask.
The clear filtrate was then heated gently.
Testing the filtrate showed no trace of salt.
verbtransitivetechnicalrare
To pass a liquid through a filter to remove solids.
Grammar: Rare; most people say filter.
The technician will filtrate the sample before testing.
They filtrate the solution to remove sand.
Word forms
| plural | filtrates |
|---|---|
| third person singular | filtrates |
| past tense | filtrated |
| -ing form | filtrating |
Common combinations
- collect the filtrate
- Collect the filtrate in a beaker.
- clear filtrate
- The mixture produced a clear filtrate.
- filtrate and residue
- Separate the filtrate and residue after filtering.
- test the filtrate
- Test the filtrate for acidity.
- evaporate the filtrate
- Evaporate the filtrate to get salt crystals.
Synonyms and how they differ
- effluent
- Effluent is a liquid that flows out, often waste, rather than what a filter collects.
- permeate
- Permeate is the liquid passing through a membrane in engineering, a close but more specialized term.
- strained liquid
- Strained liquid is a plain description used for cooking, not for lab work.
Opposites
Word family
- filter noun
- a device that separates solids from liquids
- filter verb
- to pass through such a device
- filtration noun
- the process of filtering
- filterable adjective
- able to pass through a filter
Commonly confused: filtrate or filtrate? filtrate or residue?
filtrate vs filtrate
Often mixed up with filter. The filter is the device; the filtrate is the liquid that passes through it.
filtrate vs residue
Residue is the solid left on the filter paper, the opposite of filtrate.
Practice
After pouring the mixture through paper, the liquid in the flask is called the ___.
Choose one answer.
The liquid that has passed through the filter is the filtrate. Residue stays on the paper.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “filtrate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.