white phosphorus

English

Noun

white phosphorus (uncountable)

1. (chemistry) The most common allotrope of phosphorus; a yellow-white waxy solid that is insoluble in water and spontaneously combusts on exposure to air to form clouds of phosphorus pentoxide; used as a military smokescreen and as an incendiary weapon.
   • 2023 October 9, Ruth Michaelson, Ben Doherty, “Israel ‘going on the offensive’ after retaking territories overrun by Hamas”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The IDF spokesperson provided no comment on whether it had halted the practice, or the reported use of white phosphorus in Gaza, a densely populated area and home to more than 2 million people.

Synonyms

• icy noctiluca
• yellow phosphorus

Translations

most common allotrope of phosphorus

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: ağ fosfor
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 白磷 (zh) (báilín), 黃磷 / 黄磷 (zh) (huánglín)

• Cornish: fosforùs gwynn m
• Dutch: witte fosfor n
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: valkoinen fosfori
• German: weißer Phosphor m
• Pashto: سپين فاسفورس m
• Russian: бе́лый фо́сфор m (bélyj fósfor)
• Swedish: vit fosfor c
• Ukrainian: бі́лий фо́сфор m (bílyj fósfor)
• Welsh: ffosfforws gwyn m