refractory - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

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- - Reformed Church
  - reformist
  - reformulate
  - refound
  - refract
  - refracting telescope
  - refraction
  - refractive index
  - refractometer
  - refractor
  - refractory
  - refrain
  - reframe
  - refrangible
  - refreeze
  - refresh
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  - refreshing
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refractory

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
refractory/rɪˈfraktəri/

▶adjective formal

1 stubborn or unmanageable.

2 resistant to a process or stimulus.
■ Medicine not yielding to treatment.

■ technical heat-resistant; hard to melt or fuse.

▶noun (pl. refractories) technical a heat-resistant substance.

– derivatives
refractoriness noun.

– origin C17: alt. of obs. refractary, from L. refractarius ‘stubborn’ (see also refract).

'refractory' also found in these Oxford entries:

basic oxygen process - magnesite - Rafferty's rules - silicon carbide - thoria - zirconia

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