Meaning & use

triboluminescence

noun·Advanced

The emission of light produced when certain crystals are crushed, rubbed, or otherwise mechanically stressed.

See it in a sentence

Breaking a wintergreen candy in the dark reveals a flash of triboluminescence.

Geologists demonstrated triboluminescence by scratching quartz crystals together in a dark room.

A note on using this word

Triboluminescence differs from fluorescence because the light comes from mechanical force, not from absorbed light.

Words with a similar meaning

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