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absorbent

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absorbent


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Absorbent  \Ab*sorb"ent\,  a.  [L.  absorbens  p.  pr  of  absorbere.] 
  Absorbing;  swallowing;  absorptive. 
 
  {Absorbent  ground}  (Paint.),  a  ground  prepared  for  a  picture, 
  chiefly  with  distemper,  or  water  colors,  by  which  the  oil 
  is  absorbed,  and  a  brilliancy  is  imparted  to  the  colors. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Absorbent  \Ab*sorb"ent\,  n. 
  1.  Anything  which  absorbs. 
 
  The  ocean,  itself  a  bad  absorbent  of  heat.  --Darwin. 
 
  2.  (Med.)  Any  substance  which  absorbs  and  neutralizes  acid 
  fluid  in  the  stomach  and  bowels,  as  magnesia,  chalk,  etc.; 
  also  a  substance  e.  g.,  iodine)  which  acts  on  the 
  absorbent  vessels  so  as  to  reduce  enlarged  and  indurated 
  parts 
 
  3.  pl  (Physiol.)  The  vessels  by  which  the  processes  of 
  absorption  are  carried  on  as  the  lymphatics  in  animals, 
  the  extremities  of  the  roots  in  plants. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  absorbent 
  adj  :  having  power  or  capacity  or  tendency  to  absorb  or  soak  up 
  (liquids);  "as  absorbent  as  a  sponge"  [syn:  {absorptive}] 
  [ant:  {nonabsorbent}] 
  n  :  a  material  having  capacity  or  tendency  to  absorb  another 
  substance  [syn:  {absorbent  material}] 




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