| displaceability | The capability of, or susceptibility to, displacement. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| displacement | 1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a putting out of place. The quantity of anything, as water, displaced by a floating body, as by a ship, the weight of the displaced liquid being equal to that of the displacing body. 2. <psychology> The process by which an emotional or behavioural response that is appropriate for one situation appears in another situation for which it is inappropriate. 3. <chemistry> The process of extracting soluble substances from organic material and the like, whereby a quantity of saturated solvent is displaced, or removed, for another quantity of the solvent. 4. <mechanics> Piston displacement, the volume of the space swept through, or weight of steam, water, etc, displaced, in a given time, by the piston of a steam engine or pump. Origin: Cf. F. Deplacement. Source: Websters Dictionary (03 Jul 1999) |
| displacement analysis | General term for an assay in which a binder competes for labelled versus unlabelled ligand; following separation of free and bound ligand, the ligand (the analyte assayed) is quantitated by relating bound and unbound ratios to known standards. See: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, radioreceptor assay, immunoassay, enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique, radioimmunoassay. Synonym: displacement analysis, saturation analysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| displacement loop | <molecular biology> A structure that can sometimes be seen on DNA which forms when a small area of the double-stranded molecule comes apart and becomes two single strands. The result is a structure shaped like the letter D. Single-stranded binding proteins are usually present to hold the strands apart for the purpose of DNA replication. (09 Oct 1997) |
| displacement threshold | The least distinguishable break in the contour of a line. (05 Mar 2000) |
| displacements per atom | (dpa) This is a measure of the amount of radiation damage in neutron-irradiated materials, for example, 10 dpa means each atom in the material has been displaced from its site within the structural lattice of the material an average of 10 times (due to interactions between the atoms and the energetic neutrons irradiating the material.) (09 Oct 1997) |
| displacer | 1. One that displaces. 2. <chemistry> The funnel part of the apparatus for solution by displacement. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |