STATIONARY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stationary mean? 

• STATIONARY (adjective)
  The adjective STATIONARY has 2 senses:

1. standing still

2. not capable of being moved

  Familiarity information: STATIONARY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STATIONARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Standing still

Context example:

the car remained stationary with the engine running

Similar:

nonmoving; unmoving (not in motion)

Derivation:

stationariness (remaining in place)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not capable of being moved

Context example:

stationary machinery

Similar:

fixed (securely placed or fastened or set)

Derivation:

stationariness (remaining in place)

 Context examples 

The analyte is forced through a column by liquid at high pressure, which decreases the time the separated components remain on the stationary phase.

(High Performance Liquid Chromatography, NCI Thesaurus)

She has now been a longer time stationary there, than she ever was before, and she begins to want change.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Device consisting of hairs or bristles set into a handle or holder, especially one that conducts current between the rotating and stationary parts of a generator or motor.

(Brush Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

The volunteers, 29 men and 31 women, engaged in a variety of physical activities, including walking or running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike.

(Fitness Trackers Bad at Measuring Calories Burned, Study Says, VOA)

A technique for the separation of complex mixtures that relys on the differential affinities of substances for a gas or liquid mobile medium and for a stationary adsorbing medium through which they pass.

(Chromatography, NCI Thesaurus)

It involves stationary and mobile phases.

(Column Chromatography, NCI Thesaurus)

A chromatographic technique in which the stationary phase is solid while the mobile phase is gaseous samples.

(Gas Chromatography, NCI Thesaurus)

The device or component caused the formation of a stationary blood clot along the walls of a blood vessel resulting in an obstruction.

(Device Thrombosis Activation Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)

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)

These gorgeous rock arches appear to be stationary, but they're actually in constant motion in response to wind and other environmental forces.

(Song of the red rock arches, National Science Foundation)