QUICK'SILVER, noun [that is, living silver, argentum vivum, so called from its fluidity.]

Mercury, a metal found both native and in the state of ore, in mines, in various parts of the world, and so remarkably fusible as to be congealable only with the intense cold indicated by 39 degrees or 40 degrees below zero, on Fahrenheit's thermometer. It is the heaviest of the metals, next to platina and gold. It is used in various arts and in medicine.