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   precipitate

   verb

   • 1. cause (an event or situation, typically one that is undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely: "the incident precipitated a political crisis" Similar bring aboutbring oncauselead tooccasiongive rise totriggersparktouch offprovokehastenaccelerateexpeditespeed upadvancequickenpush forwardfurtherinstigateinduce
   • ▪ cause to move suddenly and with force: "suddenly the ladder broke, precipitating them down into a heap" Similar hurlcatapultthrowplungelaunchprojectflingcastheavepropel
   • ▪ send someone or something suddenly into a particular state or condition: "they were precipitated into a conflict for which they were quite unprepared"
   • 2. cause (a substance) to be deposited in solid form from a solution: "cell proteins were then precipitated and washed in 10% trichloroacetic acid"
   • ▪ cause (drops of moisture or particles of dust) to be deposited from the atmosphere or from a vapour or suspension: "excess moisture is precipitated as rain, fog, mist, or dew"

   adjective

   • 1. done, made, or acting suddenly or without careful consideration: "I must apologize for my staff—their actions were precipitate" Similar hastyoverhastyrashhurriedrushedimpetuousimpulsivespur-of-the-momentprecipitousincautiousimprudentinjudiciousill-advisedheedlessrecklesshare-brainedfoolhardyinformal:harum-scarumpreviousrare:temerarious
   • ▪ occurring suddenly or abruptly: "a precipitate decline in Labour fortunes" Similar suddenrapidswiftabruptmeteoricheadlongspeedyquickfasthurriedbreakneckviolentprecipitousunexpectedwithout warningunanticipatedunforeseenrare:precipitant

   noun

   • 1. a substance precipitated from a solution.

   Word Origin early 16th century: from Latin praecipitat- ‘thrown headlong’, from the verb praecipitare, from praeceps, praecip(it)- ‘headlong’, from prae ‘before’ + caput ‘head’. The original sense of the verb was ‘hurl down, send violently’; hence ‘cause to move rapidly’, which gave rise to sense 1 (early 17th century).

   Derivatives

   • 1. precipitable adjective
   • 2. precipitately adverb
   • 3. precipitateness noun
   • 4. precipitability noun

   Scrabble Points: 17

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