What does quicksilver mean?
Word: Quicksilver
Part of Speech: Noun and adjective
Meaning: Quicksilver means an old name for mercury, the shiny metal once used in thermometers; as an adjective, moving or changing very quickly.
Synonyms: mercury, lively
Word origin: Old English cwicseolfor.
How do you spell quicksilver?
Syllables: quick - sil - ver
Tricky part: It is one word made of quick and silver, with no space or hyphen. The ck of quick must stay.
Watch out for: quiksilver, quicsilver
Memory tip: Quick keeps its ck in the compound, just as it does in quickly.
Quicksilver in a sentence
Example 1: Old thermometers used quicksilver, which rose in the glass tube as it warmed.
Example 2: Our quicksilver winger was past three defenders in seconds.
Example 3: The science museum shows how quicksilver forms tiny shining balls when spilt.
Fun Fact
Here quick has its old meaning of alive, so quicksilver means living silver: the metal runs about as if it had a life of its own.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) quicksilver
b) fingurprint
c) bookcaise
d) waterfal
Show answer
a) quicksilver. One has a u for an e, one has an extra i and one has lost an l; quicksilver joins its two parts cleanly.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word quicksilver as used in the sentence:
The quicksilver puppy darted between the chairs before anyone could catch it.
a) heavy
b) nimble
c) sleepy
d) clumsy
Show answer
b) nimble. Quicksilver here describes fast, light movement, which is what nimble means.
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt one:
1. sulphur 2. platinam 3. magnesium 4. quicksilver
a) a light metal that burns with a bright white flame
b) the silvery metal also known as mercury
c) a precious grey-white metal used in jewellery
d) a yellow element that smells strongly when burnt
Show answer
c) a precious grey-white metal used in jewellery. Platinum ends in um, as many metal names do; magnesium, quicksilver and sulphur are spelt correctly.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Grandpa's old barometer still holds a column of usiqrklivec in its glass tube.
a) quicksand
b) quickness
c) quicksilver
d) silversmith
Show answer
c) quicksilver. Quicksand and quickness are too short, and silversmith has no q; all eleven letters spell quicksilver.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Quicksilver is unusual among metals because at room temperature it is a ____.
a) crystal
b) liquid
c) powder
d) gas
Show answer
b) liquid
2. A dancer with quicksilver movements moves ____.
a) with long, slow steps
b) in a stiff, jerky way
c) slowly and heavily
d) with speed and grace
Show answer
d) with speed and grace
