| 释义 |
absorbent, a. and n.|əbˈsɔːbənt|
[ad. L. absorbent-em, pr. pple. of ab-sorbēre: see absorb.]
A. adj. Absorbing, imbibing, swallowing; absorptive. absorbent system, see B 3. absorbent cotton U.S., cotton wool.
1718Quincy Compl. Disp. 81 It is both detergent and absorbent. 1752Brooke Inoculation in Phil. Trans. XLVII. 471 The absorbent vessels..will always take in a sufficient quantity of the matter to contaminate the whole mass of the circulating fluids. 1869Phillips Vesuvius v. 140 Rain sinks in some considerable proportion into the absorbent soil. 1889in Cent. Dict. 1890Billings Med. Dict. I. 7/1 A[bsorbent] cotton, L. gossypium... Cotton freed from adhering impurities, and deprived of oily matter by boiling in a dilute alkaline solution and thorough washing; absorbent and protective; used as a surgical dressing. 1947Hygeia Oct. 767/2 The thermometer should be kept in a small tumbler, one-quarter filled with antiseptic solution, with a little absorbent cotton in the bottom of the glass.
B. n. An absorbing substance or apparatus.
1. Any substance which absorbs fluids through its sensible or insensible porosity; applied in a special sense in Med. to such substances as chalk, magnesia, which absorb the acidity of the stomach.
1718Quincy Compl. Disp. 79 Dryers, or Absorbents,..prevent those superfluous Moistures, which the Nerves are frequently overcharg'd with. 1769Buchan Dom. Med. (1826) xlii. 175 But the best and safest absorbent is magnesia alba. 1845Darwin Voy. of Nat. xi. 249 (1879) The clouded sky seldom allows the sun to warm the ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. 1875Wood Therap. (1879) 611 Absorbents, This class contains remedies which are used for the purpose of absorbing acrid and deleterious materials,..on the exterior of the body, and..in the alimentary canal.
2. fig.
1821–30Ld. Cockburn Mem. own Time 220 The country gentlemen, the absorbents of every prejudice. 1875Helps Ess., Org. Daily Life 174 A persecution, which pinches, but does not suppress, is merely an irritant, and not an absorbent.
3. Physiol. (in pl.) The vessels through which the process of absorption is carried on in animals and plants, such as the lacteals in the former, the extremities of the roots in the latter. attrib. in absorbent system.
1753Chambers Cycl. Suppl. Naturalists speak of the like Absorbents in plants; the fibrous or hairy roots of which are considered as a kind of vasa Absorbentia. 1795Abernethy Anat. of Whale in Phil. Trans. LXXXVI. 29, Absorbents..which terminated by open orifices. 1836Todd Cycl. An. & Ph. I. 20/1 The absorbents..were among the organs which were the latest in being discovered by anatomists. 1847Youatt Horse vi. 110 Much of the cartilage is taken away by vessels called absorbents. 1856Woodward Fossil Shells 30 The mollusca have no distinct absorbent system. |