| solid | 1. 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. 2. Not hollow; full of matter; as, a solid globe or cone, as distinguished from a hollow one; not spongy; dense; hence, sometimes, heavy. 3. <mathematics> Having all the geometrical dimensions; cubic; as, a solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches. In this sense, cubics now generally used. 4. Firm; compact; strong; stable; unyielding; as, a solid pier; a solid pile; a solid wall. 5. Applied to a compound word whose parts are closely united and form an unbroken word; opposed to hyphened. 6. 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) 7. Sound; not weakly; as, a solid constitution of body. 8. <botany> Of a fleshy, uniform, undivided substance, as a bulb or root; not spongy or hollow within, as a stem. 9. <psychology> Impenetrable; resisting or excluding any other material particle or atom from any given portion of space; applied to the supposed ultimate particles of matter. 10. Not having the lines separated by leads; not open. 11. United; without division; unanimous; as, the delegation is solid for a candidate. Solid angle. <geometry> See Angle. Solid colour, an even colour; one not shaded or variegated. Solid green. See Emerald green, under Green. <mathematics> Solid measure, a square body or troops in which the ranks and files are equal. Synonym: Hard, firm, compact, strong, substantial, stable, sound, real, valid, true, just, weighty, profound, grave, important. 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) Origin: L. Solidus, probably akin to sollus whole, entire, Gr., cf. F. Solide. Cf. Consolidate,Soda, Solder, Soldier, Solemn. 1. A substance that is held in a fixed form by cohesion among its particles; a substance not fluid. 2. <geometry> A magnitude which has length, breadth, and thickness; a part of space bounded on all sides. Solid of revolution. <geometry> See Revolution. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| solid breeder | <radiobiology> Solid lithium-bearing compounds, usually ceramics such as Li2O and LiAlO2, which might be used in the blanket of a D-T fusion reactor to produce (breed) additional tritium fuel from the n + Li = He + T (+n) reactions. (09 Oct 1997) |
| solid lesion of spleen | <radiology> Granulomatous disease, most often TB and histoplasmosis, less often sarcoid, metastasis, melanoma, lymphoma, breast, lung, primary mass, haemangioma, haemangiosarcoma, lymphangioma, infarction (12 Dec 1998) |
| solid oedema | Infiltration of the subcutaneous tissues by mucoid material, as in myxoedema. (05 Mar 2000) |
| solid phase immunoassay | Immunoassay in which the antigen or serum is bound to a solid surface, such as a microplate wall or the sides of a tube, the other reactants being free in solution. (05 Mar 2000) |
| solid renal mass | <radiology> MALIGNANT until proven otherwise!, renal cell carcinoma (85%), other malignancy (10%), renal sarcoma, lymphoma, transitional cell carcinoma, metastases, benign mass (5%), oncocytoma, angiomyolipoma (fat present), fibroma (12 Dec 1998) |
| solid state laser | <radiobiology> A laser using a transparent substance (crystalline or glass) as the active medium, doped to provide the energy states necessary for lasing. The pumping mechanism is the radiation from a powerful light source, such as a flashlamp. The ruby, Nd-YAG, and Nd:glass lasers are solid-state lasers. (09 Oct 1997) |
| solid tumour | A cancer that originates in organ or tissue other than bone marrow or the lymph system. (16 Dec 1997) |
| solid-state detector | A detector that uses a crystalline scintillating material rather than an ionization chamber to detect or measure radiation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| solidago | <botany> A genus of yellow-flowered composite perennial herbs; golden-rod. Origin: NL, fr. L. Solidare to strengthen, unite; so called in allusion to its reputed healing qualities. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| solidism | <medicine> The doctrine that refers all diseases to morbid changes of the solid parts of the body. It rests on the view that the solids alone are endowed with vital properties, and can receive the impression of agents tending to produce disease. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| solidist | <medicine> An advocate of, or believer in, solidism. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| solidistic | Relating to solidism. (05 Mar 2000) |
| solidity | 1. The state or quality of being solid; density; consistency, opposed to fluidity; compactness; fullness of matter, opposed to openness or hollowness; strength; soundness, opposed to weakness or instability; the primary quality or affection of matter by which its particles exclude or resist all others; hardness; massiveness. "That which hinders the approach of two bodies when they are moving one toward another, I call solidity." (Locke) 2. Moral firmness; soundness; strength; validity; truth; certainty; as opposed to weakness or fallaciousness; as, the solidity of arguments or reasoning; the solidity of principles, triuths, or opinions. 3. <geometry> The solid contents of a body; volume; amount of inclosed space. Synonym: Firmness, solidness, hardness, density, compactness, strength, soundness, validity, certainty. Origin: L. Soliditas: cf. F. Solidite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| solidungula | <zoology> A tribe of ungulates which includes the horse, ass, and related species, constituting the family Equidae. Origin: NL, from L. Solidus solid + ungula a hoof. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| colour solid | A schematic arrangement of colour in space, the attributes of hue, saturation, and brightness being represented by cylindrical coordinates. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| municipal solid waste | Garbage. Refuse offering the potential for energy recovery; includes residential, commercial, and institutional wastes. (05 Dec 1998) |