flocculate
verb
- to cause (individual particles of clay) to aggregate into clotlike masses or precipitate into small lumps
- to become flocculent; to form lumpy or fluffy masses
- to cause (clouds) to form fluffy masses
Wiktionary
adj
Etymology: Scientific internationalism; from Latin flocculus + -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3), diminutive of floccus (“a lock, tuft”).
- Having flock form or forms.
noun
Etymology: Scientific internationalism; from Latin flocculus + -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3), diminutive of floccus (“a lock, tuft”).
- A mass that has suffered flocculation.
verb
Etymology: Scientific internationalism; from Latin flocculus + -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3), diminutive of floccus (“a lock, tuft”).
- To collect (suspended particles, sediment, etc.) into loose, fluffy aggregations resembling tufts of wool.
“When applied to clay soils it [lime] binds the small particles together, or flocculates them.”
“For example, when the Mississippi water flows into the saline water of the Gulf of Mexico, much of the matter that was held suspended in the river-water is flocculated at once, so that it can subside. Such action as this is one prime cause of the formation of deltas, for the flocculation of fine mud by salt is common to all rivers that reach the sea.”