fluidadj.n.
/ˈfluːɪd/, U.S. /ˈfluɪd/ A. adj.
1.
a. Having the property of flowing; consisting of particles that move freely among themselves, so as to give way before the slightest pressure. (A general term including both gaseous and liquid substances.) fluid extract (U.S.), a concentrated solution (usually in alcohol) of the active principle of a vegetable drug prepared to a standard strength (see esp. quot. 1965); frequently as fluidextract.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > fluids > [adjective]
fluid1603
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > [adjective] > apt to flow
fleetingc1200
fluxible1556
fluid1603
fluxile1605
fluxive?1606
fluent1611
runny1770
fluidic1883
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > extracts > [noun]
fluid extract1851
liquid extract1864
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1361 To..presse together that which of the owne nature is fluid and runneth out.
1638 Bp. J. Wilkins Discov. New World (1640) i. xii. 178 The appearance of the milky way dos not arise from some fluider parts of the heaven (as he supposes).
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 349 Spirits..Cannot..mortal wound Receive, no more then can the fluid Aire. View more context for this quotation
1715 A. Pope Temple of Fame 38 Thro undulating Air the Sounds are sent, And spread o'er all the fluid Element.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 315 The salt fuses readily, and runs very fluid.
1845 C. Darwin Jrnl. (ed. 2) xxi. 493 Masses of lava which have been shot through the air whilst fluid.
1851 G. B. Wood & F. Bache Dispensatory U.S.A. (ed. 9) 991 Mix thoroughly with the resulting Fluid Extract the Tincture of Ginger.
1885 A. H. Buck Ref. Handbk. Med. Sci. I. 783/1 The Aromatic Fluid Extract (Extractum Aromaticum Fluidum, U.S. Ph.).
1935 C. Solomon Prescription Writing & Formulary ii. xi. 102 Fluidextracts (called liquidextracts in the B.P.) are liquid alcoholic preparations of drugs so prepared that 1 cc. contains 1 gram of the drug (or, 1 minim contains 1 grain).
1951 A. Grollman Pharmacol. & Therapeutics i. 38 The tinctures and fluid extracts are the most commonly used liquid preparations.
1965 Pharmacopeia U.S. (ed. 17) 787/2 Fluidextracts are liquid preparations of vegetable drugs, containing alcohol as a solvent or as a preservative, or both, and so made that each ml. contains the therapeutic constituents of 1 Gm. of the standard drug that it represents.
b. figurative and of non-physical things: Flowing or moving readily; not solid or rigid; not fixed, firm, or stable.
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the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. B7v So fluid chance is set its certain bound.
1673 W. Cave Primitive Christianity ii. ii. 31 The fluid and transitory condition of man's life.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 21 The French, whose Temper is allow'd to be more volatile..and their Spirits more fluid than in other Nations.
1873 M. Arnold Lit. & Dogma Pref. p. xv The language of the Bible is fluid, passing, and literary, not rigid, fixed, and scientific.
1885 Academy 6 June 400/1 A time when the Evangelical tradition was still fluid.
1949 A. Koestler Promise & Fulfilm. xiv. 159 This phase of fluid guerilla fighting ended on April 2.
1956 A. Huxley Let. 10 Jan. (1969) 784 Fluid staging, as I remember, used to be all the rage in Germany and Belgium thirty-five years ago.
1959 Times 11 June 3/3 The position, as the scores suggest, is decidedly fluid.
2. Of speech, etc.: Flowing easily and clearly. †Of a speaker: Fluent.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] > fluent or unforced
gentc1390
renablec1410
flowing1553
round1565
unracked1572
current1577
ready1583
voluble1598
facile1607
unforceda1616
fluent1625
sliding1627
unstudied1657
flippanta1677
easy1711
fast-flowing1770
fluida1794
superfluent1917
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses (1815) II. 219 He [Edmund Bunney] was the most fluid preacher in the reign of qu. Elizabeth, for he seldom or never studied for what he was to deliver, but would preach and pray extempore.
a1794 E. Gibbon Memoirs in Misc. Wks. (1796) I. 159 Monsignor Stonor..discovers much venom in the fluid and nervous style of Gibbon.
B. n.
1.
a. A substance whose particles move freely among themselves, so as to give way before the slightest pressure.Fluids are divided into liquids, which are incompletely elastic, and gases, which are completely so.
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the world > matter > liquid > [noun]
liquor?c1225
aquaa1398
moisture?1406
subtilesa1598
fluxure1603
aq.1639
fluor1654
fluid1661
liquid1708
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > fluids > [noun]
fluid1661
1661 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mech. (1682) i. iv. 10 The air being a fluid.
1734 tr. P. L. M. de Maupertuis Diss. Cœlestial Bodies 19 in J. Keill Exam. Burnet's Theory of Earth (ed. 2) Descartes to account for the Revolutions of the Planets around the Sun, supposes them imerged in a Fluid, which [etc.].
1807 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 17 275 From the first he swallowed fluids with difficulty.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. i. 12 Mr. Cavendish made the grand discovery, that it [water] was composed of two elastic fluids or gases.
1882 G. M. Minchin Uniplanar Kinematics vi. 137 (heading) Kinematics of fluids.
b. spec. Any liquid constituent or secretion of the body (or of a plant).
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the world > plants > part of plant > plant substances > [noun] > fluid, juice, or sap
oozeeOE
sapOE
milkOE
slime?c1225
juicec1290
humoura1398
opiuma1398
watera1425
sop1513
afion1542
suc1551
suck1560
ab1587
lymph1682
blood1690
fluid1705
humidities1725
succus1771
plant milk1896
the world > life > the body > secretory organs > secretion > [noun] > fluid secretion
moisturea1387
juice1398
suck1560
recrement1578
suffusion1608
fluid1705
succus1771
liquor1886
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica Pref. sig. c3v Moderate Exercise..will enrich the Fluids.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 259 Spices..act strongly both on the Fluids and Solids.
1804 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 94 186 Gravitation will act on the fluid descending from the leaves.
1831 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. (ed. 2) 3 The fluids constitute the greater part of the organs.
1844 R. D. Hoblyn Dict. Terms Med. & Collateral Sci. (ed. 2) Fluid of Cotunnius, a thin gelatinous fluid, found in the bony cavities of the labyrinth of the ear.
1878 L. P. Meredith Teeth (ed. 2) 49 They decay on account of the bad condition of the fluids of the mouth.
2. One of several subtle, imponderable, all-pervading substances, whose existence has been assumed to account for the phenomena of heat, magnetism, and electricity.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > heat > [noun]
heat1626
fluid1751
caloric1792
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > [noun] > assumed source of
electric fire1736
electric fluid1749
electrical fluid1750
fluid1751
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > magnetism > [noun] > phenomena of attraction > substance supposedly emitted
effluvium1646
ray1654
fluid1751
1751 B. Franklin Exper. & Observ. Electr. 77 The particles of the electrical fluid.
1832 Nat. Philos. (Libr. Useful Knowl.) II. Magnetism iv. §152. 36 The supposition, that its phenomena are occasioned by the agency of two magnetic fluids, residing in the particles of iron..They have been denominated respectively the Austral and Boreal fluids.
1881 J. C. Maxwell Treat. Electr. & Magnetism (ed. 2) I. 39 In most expositions of this theory the two electricities are called ‘Fluids’.
Special uses
fluid filament n. = streamline n. 1.
ΚΠ
1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 461/1 In a stream we may often regard the particles as flowing along definite paths in space. A chain of particles following each other along such a constant path may be termed a fluid filament or elementary stream.
Compounds
C1.
fluid-containing adj. (In sense of fluidic adj. 3.)
ΚΠ
1753 N. Torriano Non-naturals 50 The Fluid-containing Vessels.
C2.
fluid amplifier n. a fluidic device in which small changes in a low-energy flow of fluid produce corresponding changes in a much larger flow.
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the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > fluid dynamics > [noun] > devices for producing specific effects
water tunnel1799
pulser1954
fluid amplifier1960
1960 Product Engin. 14 Mar. 17/1 Oil or air circuits may soon compete for control applications previously thought suitable only for electronic and electrical controls. Reason: a simple new fluid amplifier just unveiled at the Army's Diamond Ordnance Fuse Laboratories here.
1963 S.A.E. Jrnl. Aug. 38 Fluid amplifiers perform electronic-like functions.
fluid circuit n. a system of tubes, nozzles, and cavities designed to perform a fluidic function in a way analogous to an electrical circuit.
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the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > fluid dynamics > [noun] > applied technology > circuit
fluid circuit1964
1964 Control Engin. Sept. 92/2 (heading) Fabricating pure fluid circuits.
1965 New Scientist 9 Dec. 719/1 Last year..an F-101B fighter was flown with stability against yaw under fluid-circuit control.
1966 New Scientist 24 Mar. 766/3 Fluid circuits, the gas or liquid analogues of electronic circuits, are much slower than their electronic counterparts.
fluid clutch n. = fluid drive n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > transmission
fluid drive1941
power train1943
fluid clutch1951
1951 Engineering 26 Oct. 533/3 The transmission assembly..incorporates a fluid clutch.
1963 R. F. Webb Motorists' Dict. 58 A fluid clutch is..operated by engine speeds through two propellers (turbos) facing each other in a fluid filled container.
fluid compass n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Fluid compass, that in which the card revolves in its bowl floated by alcohol.
fluid-compressed adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > steel > [adjective] > processed in other manners
overblown1879
killed1884
cogged1888
fluid-compressed1888
sorbitized1927
flat-rolled1935
1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 146 Fluid Compressed Steel.
fluid compression n. compression of steel while in a fluid state.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > conversion of metals > of iron into steel > processes involved in
overblow1705
recarburization1868
recarburizing1872
after-blow1879
overblowing1879
blow1881
fluid compression1884
pigging back1900
nodulizing1905
nodulization1915
1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron xxii. 510 The moulds employed in Sir Joseph Whitworth's process of fluid compression are of special construction.
fluid coupling n. a device that makes use of oil or some other liquid to transmit torque from one shaft to another.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > transmitters
carrier1733
pitman1813
driver1819
friction-cone1842
universal joint1856
cardan joint1868
reach rodc1871
Hooke coupling1883
friction-disc1888
impeller1890
transmission-gear1894
transmission1906
fluid flywheel1930
Hooke's joint1930
torque converter1934
fluid coupling1940
UJ1970
1940 Automobile Engin. 50/3 An oil pump maintains pressure in the fluid coupling.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) V. 335/1 Because the fluid flow cannot change abruptly, a fluid coupling absorbs rather than transmits shock loads.
fluid drive n. a transmission in a motor vehicle, etc., in which a fluid coupling is used to transmit the power from the engine to the gears.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > transmission
fluid drive1941
power train1943
fluid clutch1951
1941 Automobile Engin. 31 49/1 Fluid drive is available as special equipment on Dodges with conventional transmission and clutch.
1968 Jane's Surface Skimmer Syst. 1967–8 31/1 The two propulsion engines drive the propellers through a fluid drive system, a reversing gearbox and 1:1 ratio vee box.
fluid flywheel n. = fluid coupling n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > parts which provide power > [noun] > transmitters
carrier1733
pitman1813
driver1819
friction-cone1842
universal joint1856
cardan joint1868
reach rodc1871
Hooke coupling1883
friction-disc1888
impeller1890
transmission-gear1894
transmission1906
fluid flywheel1930
Hooke's joint1930
torque converter1934
fluid coupling1940
UJ1970
1930 Autocar 5 Sept. 1 (advt.) The Daimler transmission system, comprising the Daimler fluid flywheel and a self-changing silent four-speed gear~box.
1967 E. Rudinger Consumer's Car Gloss. (ed. 2) 44 The fluid flywheel was used originally in place of a clutch in cars with a pre-selector gearbox..and it is now used in some types of automatic transmission.
fluid lens n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 891/1 Fluid-lens, one in which a liquid is imprisoned between circular glass disks of the required curvatures.
fluid logic n. the performance of logical operations by fluidic devices; fluidics.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > [noun] > rate of flow > logical operations in fluidics
fluid logic1960
1960 J. R. Greenwood (title of B.S. thesis, Mass. Inst. Tech.) The design and development of a fluid logic element.
1963 Trans. Soc. Instrument Technol. 15 123/2 Fluid devices..without movable parts originated much more recently and the interest in fluid logic is due mainly to these types of devices.
1965 Times 23 July 17/3 In a fluid logic system a switch is activated when a small jet of air impinges on another's path.
fluid mechanics n. the branch of mechanics dealing with the flow of liquids and gases and the way they respond to and exert forces.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > fluid mechanics > [noun]
fluid mechanics1937
1937 A. H. Jameson (title) An introduction to fluid mechanics.
1937 M. P. O'Brien & G. H. Hickox Appl. Fluid Mech. p. ix Fluid mechanics not only treats the external forces acting on a fluid but also recognizes the internal forces, such as those caused by viscosity, which may markedly affect the motion.
1967 E. U. Condon & H. Odishaw Handbk. Physics (ed. 2) iii. i. 3/1 The entire subject falls into three parts, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, and, for intermediate states, rheology.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 779/2 Fluid mechanics deals with the forces exerted on a fluid to hold it at rest, as well as with the interplay of forces between a fluid and boundaries that cause motion of the fluid.
fluid ounce n. a measure of capacity, containing an avoird. ounce of distilled water at 62° Fahr. (= 28·4 cubic centimetres).In the United States the fluid ounce is the quarter of a gill or 128th part of a gallon (= 29·57 cubic centimetres), containing 456·033 grains of distilled water at its maximum density. It is thus an aliquot part of the pint, quart, and gallon, which the British fluid ounce is not.
fluid pressure n. pressure of a fluid, or resembling that of a fluid, being equal in all directions about a point and acting perpendicularly to any surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > pressure > fluid pressure
fluid pressure1845
1845 Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1844 i. 348 To show how..each of the individual particles of water..shall unite in the production of an aggregate motion consistent with the continuity of mass and with the laws of fluid pressure,—this is a problem which belongs to the mathematician.
1858 W. J. M. Rankine Man. Appl. Mech. 100 The term fluid pressure is used to denote a thrust which is normal and equally intense in all directions round a point.
1910 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 117/1 This mechanical axiom of the normality of fluid pressure is the foundation of the mathematical theory of hydrostatics.
1940 J. D. Jevons Metall. Deep Drawing ix. 311 With fluid-pressure actuation the applied pressure cannot rise above a value determined by a release valve.
Draft additions September 2020
fluid dynamics n. the branch of mathematics and physics concerned with the description and study of the flow of liquids and gases.Fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics.
ΚΠ
1932 H. L. Dryden in Rep. Comm. Hydrodynamics (National Res. Council (U.S.)) 3 The lack of agreement in most cases between the results of classical fluid dynamics and experiment is well known.
2013 S. A. Socolotsky & C. R. Rehmann in H. J. S. Fernando Handbk. Environmental Fluid Dynamics II. v. 55/1 Bubble plumes..appear in many applications important for environmental fluid dynamics.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1603