FIXATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fixation mean? 

• FIXATION (noun)
  The noun FIXATION has 4 senses:

1. an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely

2. an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

3. the activity of fastening something firmly in position

4. (histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body

  Familiarity information: FIXATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FIXATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

arrested development; fixation; infantile fixation; regression

Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):

abnormalcy; abnormality (an abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

fixation; obsession

Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):

preoccupation (an idea that preoccupies the mind and holds the attention)

Derivation:

fixate (pay attention to exclusively and obsessively)

fixate (attach (oneself) to a person or thing in a neurotic way)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The activity of fastening something firmly in position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):

attachment; fastening (the act of fastening things together)

Derivation:

fixate (make fixed, stable or stationary)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fixation; fixing

Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):

preservation (a process that saves organic substances from decay)

Domain category:

histology (the branch of biology that studies the microscopic structure of animal or plant tissues)

Holonyms ("fixation" is a part of...):

plastination (a process involving fixation and dehydration and forced impregnation and hardening of biological tissues; water and lipids are replaced by curable polymers (silicone or epoxy or polyester) that are subsequently hardened)

Derivation:

fixate (make fixed, stable or stationary)

 Context examples 

Surgical fixation or immobilization of a joint, performed to allow bones to fuse or join together.

(Arthrodesis, NCI Thesaurus)

A taxonomic family of rhizobial, symbiotic bacterium in the phylum Proteobacteria that are found in plant roots and perform nitrogen fixation.

(Brucellaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

In plant tissues, this ratio varies between those plants that utilize the C3 carbon fixation pathway and those that utilize the C4 pathway.

(Delta13C, NCI Thesaurus)

Participants were instructed to focus on a stationary fixation point for five minutes.

(Daydreaming Is Good: It Means You're Smart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A taxonomic family of bacterium, which perform nitrogen fixation, in the phylum Proteobacteria that includes the genera Methylobacterium and Meganema, among others.

(Methylobacteriaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

This gene may be involved in coagulation and ion fixation.

(HRG Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Cyanobacteria can do this even though oxygen, a byproduct of photosynthesis, interferes with the process of nitrogen fixation.

(Bacteria Used to Create Fertilizer Out of Thin Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers first created unique standardized growth charts from general population data for 3 social characteristics that are often impaired in people with ASD: face recognition memory, gaze fixation, and facial emotion recognition.

(Oxytocin affects facial recognition, NIH)

In complement fixation tests, the smallest amount of antigen that will fix one unit of complement.

(Antigen Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

Nitrogen fixation rates dropped markedly with the addition of a little oxygen (up to 1 percent), but rose again with the addition of a different group of genes from Cyanothece, although it did not reach rates as high as without the presence of oxygen.

(Bacteria Used to Create Fertilizer Out of Thin Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)