Lõhustab

Lõhustab is an Estonian verb meaning to pulverize, crush into powder, or reduce something to small fragments. It describes a mechanical process that breaks apart a solid material by applying force, typically to change its texture or particle size in preparation for further processing or analysis.

The verb is used in various contexts. In cooking and food preparation, it can refer to grinding spices, nuts, or grains using a mortar and pestle or a grinder. In industrial settings, it describes crushing ore, stones, or other materials to facilitate mineral separation or material handling. In chemistry and materials science, lõhustab may denote reducing a solid to a finer powder to improve reaction dynamics or measurement. The action is transitive and usually takes a concrete object that can be ground or crushed.

Conjugation and related forms are standard for Estonian verbs. The infinitive is lõhustama; the present tense, third person singular, is lõhustab; the past tense is lõhustas. The passive form is lõhustatakse. Related nouns include lõhustamine (the act of pulverizing) and the adjective or participle lõhustav (pulverizing, pulverizing-capable). Synonyms in Estonian include purustada and peenestada, while closely related activities include jahvatada (to grind to a finer powder).