quicksilver

1. literaryuncountableThe metal mercury.

   Synonyms: mercury, hydrargyrum

2. broadlyliteraryuncountableAn amalgam of mercury and tin applied to the backs of mirrors; quicksilvering.

1. literarynot comparableUnpredictable, erratic, or fickle; mercurial.

   Summer is not the most auspicious season for theater in New York. Aside from a few certifiable Broadway hits, it is, in fact, a rather quicksilver commodity.

   1978 August 19, Kevin Warren, “A Flawless Production”, in Gay Community News, volume 6, number 5, page 15

   1 more example

   The idea of a merchant selling both totems of pure evil and frozen yogurt (he calls it frogurt!) is amusing in itself, as is the idea that frogurt could be cursed, but it’s really the Shopkeeper’s quicksilver shift from ominous doomsaying to chipper salesmanship that sells the sequence.

   2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 15 Aug 2012

present singular third person quicksilvers · participle present quicksilvering · participle past quicksilvered · past quicksilvered

1. transitiveTo overlay with quicksilver.
2. transitiveTo treat with quicksilver.