How to Use igneous in a Sentence

igneous

adjective
  • If the rocks are igneous, they were formed by volcanoes.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 21 July 2021
  • Down there, salt water begins to mix and move through igneous rocks like olivine.
    — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 10 June 2019
  • Percy may be directed back to this spot to try and grab some igneous rocks in the future, Farley says.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2021
  • In Alexandria, at about the same time, a slab of igneous rock etched with Greek and hieroglyphics was packed onto a 40-gun ship and made to brave the waves of the Mediterranean.
    — Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2023
  • Certain types of igneous rock, such as the crystalline mineral spodumene and jadarite, are rich in the metal.
    — Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 11 Dec. 2021
  • These zones are hot spots for earthquakes and fiery igneous volcanoes.
    — Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 15 Mar. 2017
  • Italy's Mount Etna provides a vivid image of one of the birthplaces of igneous rock during a night eruption.
    — National Geographic, 6 Jan. 2016
  • The castle's outer walls, built from stern igneous rock, and the black-walled keep stand in stark contrast to the 800 cherry blossom trees that paint its gardens pink each spring.
    — CNN, 19 Jan. 2022
  • The light-colored highlands are composed of anorthosite, an igneous rock believed to be the remains of the primordial crust of the Moon, and are dated to 4.5 to 3.9 billion years.
    — David Bressan, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2021
  • Members of species that used to share turf and swap genes got separated by Nature’s igneous paving crews.
    — Elyse Butler, Smithsonian, 29 Apr. 2017
  • Members of species that used to share turf and swap genes got separated by Nature’s igneous paving crews.
    — Elyse Butler, Smithsonian, 2 May 2017
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, USA TODAY, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The massive cascade tumbles over black-brown basalt rock, an igneous rock born of billion-year-old lava flows.
    — Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 15 Feb. 2018
  • Etna also shows off the etymology of igneous, from the Latin word for fire.
    — National Geographic, 6 Jan. 2016
  • The repository is in 2 billion-year-old igneous Finnish bedrock.
    — James Conca, Forbes, 31 May 2021
  • These volcanic events, called large igneous provinces, get the blame for a handful of other mass extinctions.
    — Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2018
  • The Early Jurassic igneous rocks in the region, laid down in massive lava flows, have not been as productive.
    — Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2020
  • But igneous rock like basalt provides a timeline: Scientists can date when the magma turned into hard rock.
    — Matt Simon, Wired, 12 Aug. 2021
  • Devils Tower is a massive, 867-foot column of igneous rock towering above the Wyoming plains.
    — Outside Online, 2 Mar. 2022
  • And do the samples include igneous rocks to calibrate dating?
    — Marissa Grunes, Discover Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023
  • The rover investigated the crater floor and found evidence of igneous, or volcanic, rock.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 15 Sep. 2022
  • The cores are largely made of peridotite, an igneous rock made of the minerals pyroxene and olivine, that is the most common type of rock in the upper mantle, per the Washington Post.
    — Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 June 2023
  • One thing about the PVP that delights Coffey is that it is composed of all three kinds of rock — sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2024
  • Their results showed that InSight’s data best matches up with a deep layer of igneous, or volcanic, rock that is filled with liquid water.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 12 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'igneous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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