The Collaborative International Dictionary
Solid \Sol"id\ (s[o^]l"[i^]d), a. [L. solidus, probably akin to sollus whole, entire, Gr. ???: cf. F. solide. Cf. Consolidate, Soda, Solder, Soldier, Solemn.]
Having the constituent parts so compact, or so firmly adhering, as to resist the impression or penetration of other bodies; having a fixed form; hard; firm; compact; -- opposed to fluid and liquid or to plastic, like clay, or to incompact, like sand.
Not hollow; full of matter; as, a solid globe or cone, as distinguished from a hollow one; not spongy; dense; hence, sometimes, heavy.
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(Arith.) Having all the geometrical dimensions; cubic; as, a solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches.
Note: In this sense, cubics now generally used.
Firm; compact; strong; stable; unyielding; as, a solid pier; a solid pile; a solid wall.
Applied to a compound word whose parts are closely united and form an unbroken word; -- opposed to hyphened.
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Fig.: Worthy of credit, trust, or esteem; substantial, as opposed to frivolous or fallacious; weighty; firm; strong; valid; just; genuine.
The solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer.
--Milton.These, wanting wit, affect gravity, and go by the name of solid men.
--Dryden.The genius of the Italians wrought by solid toil what the myth-making imagination of the Germans had projected in a poem.
--J. A. Symonds. Sound; not weakly; as, a solid constitution of body.
--I. Watts.(Bot.) Of a fleshy, uniform, undivided substance, as a bulb or root; not spongy or hollow within, as a stem.
(Metaph.) Impenetrable; resisting or excluding any other material particle or atom from any given portion of space; -- applied to the supposed ultimate particles of matter.
(Print.) Not having the lines separated by leads; not open.
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United; without division; unanimous; as, the delegation is solid for a candidate. [Polit. Cant. U.S.]
Solid angle. (Geom.) See under Angle.
Solid color, an even color; one not shaded or variegated.
Solid green. See Emerald green (a), under Green.
Solid measure (Arith.), a measure for volumes, in which the units are each a cube of fixed linear magnitude, as a cubic foot, yard, or the like; thus, a foot, in solid measure, or a solid foot, contains 1,728 solid inches.
Solid newel (Arch.), a newel into which the ends of winding stairs are built, in distinction from a hollow newel. See under Hollow, a.
Solid problem (Geom.), a problem which can be construed geometrically, only by the intersection of a circle and a conic section or of two conic sections.
--Hutton.Solid square (Mil.), a square body or troops in which the ranks and files are equal.
Syn: Hard; firm; compact; strong; substantial; stable; sound; real; valid; true; just; weighty; profound; grave; important.
Usage: Solid, Hard. These words both relate to the internal constitution of bodies; but hardnotes a more impenetrable nature or a firmer adherence of the component parts than solid. Hard is opposed to soft, and solid to fluid, liquid, open, or hollow. Wood is usually solid; but some kinds of wood are hard, and others are soft.
Repose you there; while I [return] to this hard house, More harder than the stones whereof 't is raised.
--Shak.I hear his thundering voice resound, And trampling feet than shake the solid ground.
--Dryden.
Usage examples of "solid color".
Horn Coral: This precious stone is a deep black coral similar to Angelar's skin save for its solid color.
He wore a button-down collar and a tie of rich solid color, a pair of exquisitely pressed black trousers, an expensive white jacket and, of course, tasseled shoes.
But a second glance and you saw the eyes, too large for the face, oblong like Kitto's, and a solid color that gave no white to the eye, only a dark round of pupil lost in a sea of green for one, and red for the other.
He had that kind of salt-and-pepper hair, dark against silver, that some men seem lucky enough to inherit, though his beard was still a solid color of dark brown, almost black.
The pattern was not quite garish up close, and at any distance it would mute into a blur more natural than any equal expanse of a solid color could be.
Soft, padded chairs were generously placed, quiet tapestries of solid color lined every wall, and a bearskin rug carpeted the floor.