THICKNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does thickness mean? 

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

1. the dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width

2. indistinct articulation

3. used of a line or mark

4. resistance to flow

  Familiarity information: THICKNESS used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THICKNESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

dimension (the magnitude of something in a particular direction (especially length or width or height))

Attribute:

thick (not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions)

thin (of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thickness"):

gauge (the thickness of wire)

Antonym:

thinness (relatively small dimension through an object as opposed to its length or width)

Derivation:

thick (hard to pass through because of dense growth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Indistinct articulation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

judging from the thickness of his speech he had been drinking heavily

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

articulation (the aspect of pronunciation that involves bringing articulatory organs together so as to shape the sounds of speech)

Derivation:

thick (spoken as if with a thick tongue)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Used of a line or mark

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

heaviness; thickness

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

broadness; wideness (the property of being wide; having great width)

Derivation:

thick (not thin; of a specific thickness or of relatively great extent from one surface to the opposite usually in the smallest of the three solid dimensions)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Resistance to flow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

body; consistence; consistency; substance (the property of holding together and retaining its shape)

Attribute:

thick (relatively dense in consistency)

thin (relatively thin in consistency or low in density; not viscous)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thickness"):

semifluidity (a property midway between a solid and a liquid)

creaminess; soupiness (the property of having the thickness of heavy cream)

Antonym:

thinness (a consistency of low viscosity)

Derivation:

thick (relatively dense in consistency)

 Context examples 

The tumor thickness (depth) is usually measured from the top of the tumor to the deepest tumor cells.

(Breslow depth, NCI Dictionary)

Breslow thickness is used to help determine the stage of cancer.

(Breslow thickness, NCI Dictionary)

Damage to a blood vessel resulting from a full thickness disruption in the integrity of the vessel wall.

(Blood Vessel Perforation, NCI Thesaurus)

The deposit ranges in thickness from about 260 feet (80 meters) to about 560 feet (170 meters), with a composition that's 50 to 85 percent water ice, mixed with dust or larger rocky particles.

(Mars Ice Deposit Holds as Much Water as Lake Superior, NASA)

Cassini data also indicate the thickness of Titan's ice crust varies slightly from place to place.

(Ocean on Saturn moon could be as salty as the Dead Sea, NASA)

The issue has finally been put to bed by re-purposing a technique that was first used to measure the thickness of the Antarctic ice sheet.

(Earth's Core Confirmed to Be Solid After 80 Years of Study, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Breslow thickness is measured from the granular layer of the epidermis, or the ulcer base (if ulcerated), to the deepest tumor cells.

(Breslow thickness, NCI Thesaurus)

One of responses to increased blood pressure is cardiac hypertrophy through increased size of ventricular myocardial cells leading to increased thickness of the ventricular walls.

(Cardiac Hypertrophy Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

It is classified as type 1 or 2, based on the cytoplasmic volume and the thickness of the lining neoplastic cells.

(Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Once there, we might hold the narrow stair; and at least, as the walls are of a greater thickness, it would be longer ere they could burn them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)