1. to heat a substance to a high temperature until it is reduced to ash or powder
Usage: transitive or intransitive; common in chemistry and materials science
2. to reduce or become reduced to a calx (the residue left after a metal or mineral has been heated)
Usage: technical; chemistry

Examples

• The laboratory technician will calcine the limestone sample at 900 degrees Celsius.
• When you calcine copper ore, it loses its water content and becomes a fine powder.
• The ancient potters would calcine shells to create a white pigment for their ceramics.
• Calcining the mineral removes impurities and prepares it for further processing.
• The furnace calcined the raw material into ash within several hours.
• Limestone calcines into quicklime when exposed to intense heat.