| fixing | 1. <orthopaedics> The act or operation of holding, suturing or fastening in a fixed position. The condition of being held in a fixed position. 2. <psychiatry> A term with two related but distinct meanings: 1. Arrest of development at a particular stage, which like regression (return to an earlier stage), if temporary is a normal reaction to setbacks and difficulties but if protracted or frequent is a cause of developmental failures and emotional problems. 3. <psychology> A close and suffocating attachment to another person, especially a childhood figure, such as one's mother or father. Both meanings are derived from psychoanalytic theory and refer to fixation of libidinal energy either in a specific erogenous zone, hence fixation at the oral, anal or phallic stage or in a specific object, hence mother or father fixation. 4. <technique> The use of a fixative to preserve histological or cytological specimens. 5. <chemistry> The process whereby a substance is removed from the gaseous or solution phase and localised, as in carbon dioxide fixation or nitrogen fixation. 6. <ophthalmology> The direction of the gaze so that the visual image of the object falls on the fovea centralis. 7. <chemistry> In film processing, the chemical removal of all undeveloped salts of the film emulsion, leaving only the developed silver to form a permanent image. 8. <zoology> A general term for determination of type, whether by designation, or indication. Origin: L. Fixatio (09 Jan 1998) |
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| fixing eye | The eye, in cases of strabismus, that is directed toward the object of regard. (05 Mar 2000) |