any of the fibrous amphibole and serpentine minerals, esp chrysotile and tremolite, that are incombustible and resistant to chemicals. It was formerly widely used in the form of fabric or board as a heat-resistant structural material
b.
(as modifier)
asbestos matting
Derived forms
asbestine (asˈbestine)
adjective
Word origin
C14 (originally applied to a mythical stone the heat of which could not be extinguished):via Latin from Greek: from asbestos inextinguishable, from a-1 + sbennunai to extinguish