Crossword clues for absorbent
absorbent
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Absorbent \Ab*sorb"ent\, a. [L. absorbens, p. pr. of absorbere.] Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive.
Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors.
Absorbent \Ab*sorb"ent\, n.
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Anything which absorbs.
The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat.
--Darwin. (Med.) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine) which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts.
pl. (Physiol.) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1718, adjective and noun, from Latin absorbentem (nominative absorbens), present participle of absorbere "swallow up" (see absorb).
Wiktionary
a. Having the ability or tendency to absorb; able to soak up liquid easily; absorptive. (First attested in the early 18th century.)(R:SOED5: page=9) n. 1 Anything which absorbs. (First attested in the early 18th century.) 2 (context physiology pluralized now rare English) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants. (First attested in the mid 18th century.) 3 (context medicine English) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance, e.g., iodine, which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts. 4 (context chemistry English) A liquid used in the process of separating gases or volatile liquids, in oil refining.
WordNet
adj. having power or capacity or tendency to absorb or soak up (liquids); "as absorbent as a sponge" [syn: absorptive] [ant: nonabsorbent]
n. a material having capacity or tendency to absorb another substance [syn: absorbent material]
Usage examples of "absorbent".
The blood-vessels are the most active absorbents, eagerly appropriating nutritive materials for the general circulation, while the respiration adds to it oxygen, that agent which makes vital manifestation possible.
Her bootheels made no sound on the restful, absorbent tile, which irritated her further.
The desert men toiled for hours, sweating into the absorbent layers of their stillsuits, taking only a few sipped drops of recovered moisture.
A body having an atonic or a lymphatic temperament is abundantly supplied with absorbent organs, which are very sluggish in their operations.
In addition to these, we have sent half a ton of phenacetin and about seven tons of absorbent cotton-wool.
Whether, granting that the function of the skin is purely protective, absorbent, excretive, and tactile, the circulation of the blood and all its mechanism would not correspond with the transsubstantiation of our Will, as the circulation of the nerve fluid corresponds to that of the Mind?
The transverse rows of hairs are so numerous that they seem superfluous merely for the sake of preventing the escape of prey, and as they are thin and delicate, they probably serve as additional absorbents, in the same manner as the flexible bristles on the infolded margins of the leaves of Aldrovanda.
These usually consist of only two or three slightly divided branches, from half to one inch in length, furnished with absorbent hairs.
The small sessile glands have also disappeared in some of the genera, being replaced in Roridula by hairs, and in most species of Drosera by absorbent papillae.
Like dry loamy clay, highly absorbent, used by some for traction on their grips, eschewed by others because it has a lot of aluminum silicates and the Y.
Alkali, salt, potassium carbonate, And our burnt matters, and coagulate, Clay mixed with horses' or men's hair, and oil Of tartar, alum, glass, yeast, wort, argoil, Realgar, and our matters absorbent, And with them, too, our matters resorbent, And how we practised silver citrination And our cementing and our fermentation, Our moulds and testers, aye, and many more.
It was a nightly ritual that consisted of greetings, shared affection, fresh hay, grain, water, and, particularly after a long ride, a rubdown with absorbent leather and a currying with a teasel.
This makes diatomaceous earth very absorbent, and an excellent filter.
She ordered a large package of absorbent cotton, an eightounce bottle of chloroform, a scalpel, elbow-length rubber gloves, a full-length rubber apron, a rubber sheet, and a large enamel basin.
I felt as though absorbent cotton encased me, as though I were moving through treacle, thick dust .