saturation
/satʃəˈreɪʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1The state of being saturated or the action of saturating: the springs on the left slope of the hill lie below the level of permanent saturation...
- Over time, the rate of adoption of the innovation increases, until the process gets closer to saturation, when the rate again slows down.
- This decrease is largely because of a saturation of the market and problems in the planning process due to understaffing and limits of only two years on planning permission, according to the report.
- Systematic studies of the prevalence of sexually explicit materials appear at first glance to to verify views about the saturation of western society with violent pornography.
1.1 Chemistry The degree or extent to which something is dissolved or absorbed compared with the maximum possible, usually expressed as a percentage: this mixture should give a reading of 45 to 50 per cent saturation...
- His oxygen saturation was 98 per-cent as measured by pulse oximetry, and his peak flows were only mildly reduced from his baseline.
- To further confuse the presentation, serum iron levels and the percentage of iron saturation are often low, apparently because of negative acute-phase reactions.
- His initial oxygen saturation was 70 percent on room air and improved to 86 percent on three liters of oxygen via nasal cannula during ambulance transfer.
1.2 [as modifier] To a very full extent, especially beyond the point regarded as necessary or desirable: the press provided saturation coverage of the hearings...
- This must be in part the result of the saturation coverage of the war in the media.
- One effortlessly got saturation coverage, the other struggled to get noticed, despite the mandatory presence of a celebrity, a suitably weighty one too.
- Does saturation coverage of a few items, to the exclusion of other important happenings in the wider world, say something about their priorities or does it reflect a none-too-flattering judgment of us, their audience?
1.3 (also colour saturation) (Especially in photography) the intensity of a colour, expressed as the degree to which it differs from white.Heat-bodying will also effect some enhancement in transparency of the medium and lower the tendency for specular scatter at the pigment/medium interface, augmenting the degree of colour saturation attainable....
- The majority of options can be automated and the user has manual control over all aspects of photography - from the 7x optical zoom to colour saturation and focus.
- It is important to remember that there are two ways to change colour saturation or tonal density.