absorbent

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Adjective 1.3.1 Derived terms 1.3.2 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Translations 2 French 2.1 Verb

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /əbs"ɔː(r)bənt/
• SAMPA: /@bs'O:(r)b@nt/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Etymology

Latin absorbens, past preterite of absorbere.

[edit] Adjective

absorbent (comparative more absorbent, superlative most absorbent)

1. absorbing; swallowing; absorptive.

   Those paper towels were amazingly absorbent. That was quite a spill.

[edit] Derived terms

• absorbent ground (painting) 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.

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

absorbent (plural absorbents)

1. Anything which absorbs.
   • The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. — Charles Darwin
2. (medicine) 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. (physiology, pluralized) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants.

[edit] Translations

• French: absorbant m.
• Interlingua: absorbente (1)
• Portuguese: absorvente m. (1)
• Russian: абсорбент (absorbént) m.
• Spanish: absorbente m.

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[edit] French

[edit] Verb

absorbent

1. Third-person plural present indicative of absorber.
2. Third-person plural present subjunctive of absorber.