| English Dictionary |
LIQUID
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does liquid mean?
• LIQUID (noun)
The noun LIQUID has 4 senses:
1. a substance that is liquid at room temperature and pressure
2. the state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility
3. fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
4. a frictionless continuant that is not a nasal consonant (especially 'l' and 'r')
Familiarity information: LIQUID used as a noun is uncommon.
• LIQUID (adjective)
The adjective LIQUID has 7 senses:
1. existing as or having characteristics of a liquid; especially tending to flow
2. filled or brimming with tears
3. clear and bright
4. changed from a solid to a liquid state
5. smooth and flowing in quality; entirely free of harshness
6. smooth and unconstrained in movement
7. in cash or easily convertible to cash
Familiarity information: LIQUID used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A substance that is liquid at room temperature and pressure
Classified under:
Nouns denoting substances
Hypernyms ("liquid" is a kind of...):
fluid (a substance that is fluid at room temperature and pressure)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "liquid"):
snake oil ((medicine) any of various liquids sold as medicine (as by a travelling medicine show) but medically worthless)
sheep dip (a liquid mixture containing pesticides in which sheep are dipped to kill parasites)
liquor (a liquid substance that is a solution (or emulsion or suspension) used or obtained in an industrial process)
grume (a thick viscous liquid)
ink (a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing)
medium (a liquid with which pigment is mixed by a painter)
pyroligneous acid; wood vinegar (a red-brown liquid formed in distillation of wood which contains acetic acid, methanol, acetone, wood oils, and tars)
distillate; distillation (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)
antifreeze (a liquid added to the water in a cooling system to lower its freezing point)
ammonia; ammonia water; ammonium hydroxide (a water solution of ammonia)
alcohol (any of a series of volatile hydroxyl compounds that are made from hydrocarbons by distillation)
supernatant (the clear liquid that lies above a sediment or precipitate)
water (a liquid necessary for the life of most animals and plants)
beverage; drink; drinkable; potable (any liquid suitable for drinking)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Synonyms:
liquid; liquid state; liquidity; liquidness
Hypernyms ("liquid" is a kind of...):
state; state of matter ((chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container))
Derivation:
liquify (become liquid or fluid when heated)
liquify (make (a solid substance) liquid, as by heating)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Fluid matter having no fixed shape but a fixed volume
Classified under:
Nouns denoting substances
Hypernyms ("liquid" is a kind of...):
fluid (continuous amorphous matter that tends to flow and to conform to the outline of its container: a liquid or a gas)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "liquid"):
elixir (a sweet flavored liquid (usually containing a small amount of alcohol) used in compounding medicines to be taken by mouth in order to mask an unpleasant taste)
H2O; water (binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent)
extravasation (an extravasated liquid (blood or lymph or urine); the product of extravasation)
instillation (a liquid that is instilled drop by drop)
liquid crystal (a liquid exhibiting properties of a crystal that are not shown by ordinary liquids)
spill (liquid that is spilled)
tuberculin (a sterile liquid containing a purified protein derivative of the tuberculosis bacterium; used in the diagnosis of tuberculosis)
artificial blood (a liquid that can carry large amounts of oxygen and can serve as a temporary substitute for blood)
Derivation:
liquify (become liquid or fluid when heated)
liquify (make (a solid substance) liquid, as by heating)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A frictionless continuant that is not a nasal consonant (especially 'l' and 'r')
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("liquid" is a kind of...):
consonant (a speech sound that is not a vowel)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Existing as or having characteristics of a liquid; especially tending to flow
Context example:
water and milk and blood are liquid substances
Similar:
fluid; runny (characteristic of a fluid; capable of flowing and easily changing shape)
liquefiable; liquifiable (capable of being liquefied)
liquefied; liquified (reduced to a liquid state)
semiliquid (somewhat liquid)
watery (relating to or resembling or consisting of water)
Attribute:
state; state of matter ((chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container))
Antonym:
gaseous (existing as or having characteristics of a gas)
solid (of definite shape and volume; firm; neither liquid nor gaseous)
Derivation:
liquidity (the property of flowing easily)
liquidity; liquidness (the state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Filled or brimming with tears
Synonyms:
liquid; swimming
Context example:
sorrow made the eyes of many grow liquid
Similar:
tearful (filled with or marked by tears)
Derivation:
liquidness (the state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Clear and bright
Synonyms:
limpid; liquid
Context example:
limpid blue eyes
Similar:
clear (allowing light to pass through)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Changed from a solid to a liquid state
Synonyms:
Context example:
rivers filled to overflowing by melted snow
Similar:
dissolved ((of solid matter) reduced to a liquid form)
fusible (capable of being melted and fused)
liquefied; liquified; molten (reduced to liquid form by heating)
thawed (no longer frozen solid)
Also:
unfrozen (not frozen)
Derivation:
liquidness (the state in which a substance exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow with little or no tendency to disperse and relatively high incompressibility)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Smooth and flowing in quality; entirely free of harshness
Context example:
the liquid song of a robin
Similar:
musical (characteristic of or resembling or accompanied by music)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Smooth and unconstrained in movement
Synonyms:
Context example:
the liquid grace of a ballerina
Similar:
graceful (characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution)
Sense 7
Meaning:
In cash or easily convertible to cash
Synonyms:
fluid; liquid
Context example:
liquid (or fluid) assets
Similar:
disposable (free or available for use or disposition)
Derivation:
liquidity (being in cash or easily convertible to cash; debt paying ability)
Context examples
The temperature at which a crystaline solid changes state from solid to liquid.
(Melting Point, NCI Thesaurus)
A liquid that is suitable for human consumption.
(Beverage, NCI Thesaurus)
A volatile liquid prepared by fermentation of certain carbohydrates.
(Alcohol, NCI Thesaurus)
Metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white, odorless liquid.
(Mercury, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)
The masses of these planets are similar to the Earth’s, and their temperatures could be low enough for water in liquid form to be present on the surface.
(Researchers find two new planets with masses similar to Earth’s near a small neighbouring star, University of Granada)
It can also be mixed with liquid and injected into your body with a needle.
(Methamphetamine, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
If confirmed by further studies, this will be the only exoplanet known to have both water in its atmosphere and temperatures that could sustain liquid water on a rocky surface.
(Hubble Finds Water Vapor on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet for 1st Time, NASA)
In medicine, to turn a liquid drug into a fine mist that can be inhaled.
(Aerosolize, NCI Dictionary)
It is also found in some medicines, mouthwashes, household products, and essential oils (scented liquid taken from certain plants).
(Alcohol, NCI Dictionary)
A colorless, volatile liquid with a pungent, onion-like odor.
(Acrylonitrile, NCI Thesaurus)
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