: a gray-white heavy high-melting ductile hard polyvalent metallic element that resembles chromium and molybdenum in many of its properties and is used especially in carbide materials and electrical components (such as lamp filaments) and in hardening alloys (such as steel) see Chemical Elements Table
Examples of tungsten in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bradwell had commemorated his onboarding by requesting a cube from Claudius—not of tungsten but of bevelled glass.
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Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
This vacuum was meant to prevent the tungsten filament––that’s the little wire inside the bulb, the thing that glows––from burning up and disintegrating immediately, which is what a very hot piece of metal would do in the presence of oxygen.
—Natalia Sánchez Loayza, Scientific American, 5 Feb. 2026
Made from a digestible mixture of cellulose, gelatin, and molybdenum or tungsten, the capsule works as a tiny Faraday cage, blocking RF communication.
—New Atlas, 28 Jan. 2026
Greenland has mineral deposits of key minerals, including graphite, copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten and lithium, all used for making modern technology.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
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Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
This vacuum was meant to prevent the tungsten filament––that’s the little wire inside the bulb, the thing that glows––from burning up and disintegrating immediately, which is what a very hot piece of metal would do in the presence of oxygen.
—Natalia Sánchez Loayza, Scientific American, 5 Feb. 2026
Made from a digestible mixture of cellulose, gelatin, and molybdenum or tungsten, the capsule works as a tiny Faraday cage, blocking RF communication.
—New Atlas, 28 Jan. 2026
Greenland has mineral deposits of key minerals, including graphite, copper, nickel, zinc, tungsten and lithium, all used for making modern technology.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tungsten
Cite this Entry
“Tungsten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tungsten. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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Etymology
from Swedish tungsten, literally "heavy stone," from tung "heavy" and sten "stone"
Medical Definition
tungsten
noun
tung·sten
ˈtəŋ-stən 
: a gray-white heavy high-melting ductile hard polyvalent metallic element that resembles chromium and molybdenum in many of its properties and is used especially for electrical purposes and in hardening alloys (as steel)
—symbol W
called also wolfram
see Chemical Elements TableLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
