porcelain

plural porcelains

1. uncountableusuallyA hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as a symbol of the fragility, elegance, etc. traditionally associated with porcelain goods.

   Tableware and toilets are both made of porcelain.

   1 more example

   Any power rail needs to be well insulated from earth, to minimise current leakage, and so the two power rails on the Underground sit on curiously genteel and antique-looking porcelain pots.

   2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 136

2. uncountableusuallySynonym of china: porcelain tableware.

   He set the table with our porcelain and stemware.

   1 more example

   iij. potts of Erthe payntid, callyd Porseland.

   c. 1530, letter in Original Letters Illustrative of English History, Vol. II, p. 242

   Synonyms: china, chinaware

3. obsoleteuncountableSynonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.

   [...] that earthen or pliable matter commonly called porcellan, which is pure white,... wherof vessels of all kinds are very curiously framed...

   1599, E. de Sande, translated by Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, 2nd edition, volume II, page 91

   Synonyms: kaolin

4. countableplural normallyAn object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.

   The museum has an extensive collection of rare Chinese porcelains.

   Synonyms: china

5. countablerareSynonym of cowrie.

   In the kingdomes of Caiacan and Carazan, certaine sea shels are currant, which some men terme Porcelline.

   1601, Giovanni Botero, translated by Robert Johnson, The Trauellers Breuiat, or, An Historicall Description of the Most Famous Kingdomes in the World, page 104

   Synonyms: cowrie

6. countablehistoricalobsoleteSynonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.

   We mett severall gangs of men to our greatest disadvantage, ffor we weare forced to sing, and those that came to see us gave porcelaine to those that most did us injury.

   c. 1665, Pierre Esprit de Radisson, Voyages, 1885 edition, page 49

   Synonyms: wampum

7. capitalizedcountableoftenA kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.

   Those pretty spangled Toys [...] known by various names, as Porcelains, Hyacinths, Ermines, &c.

   1855, The Poultry Chronicle, number 3, page 9

8. countableuncountableGitcomputingThe set of Git commands, such as `git commit` or `git checkout`, which control the high-level state of the repository, each typically combining the behaviour of multiple plumbing commands.

   Coordinate term: plumbing

   1 more example

   The

   2016, Jakub Narębski, “Keeping History Clean”, in Mastering Git, Birmingham, West Midlands: Packt Publishing Ltd., page 227

present singular third person porcelains · participle present porcelaining · participle past porcelained · past porcelained

1. transitiveTo coat with a porcelain enamel.