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Webster 1913 Edition


Viscid

Vis′cid

,
Adj.
[L.
viscidus
, fr.
viscum
the mistletoe, birdlime made from the berries of the mistletoe; akin to Gr. [GREEK]: cf. F.
viscide
.]
Sticking or adhering, and having a ropy or glutinous consistency; viscous; glutinous; sticky; tenacious; clammy;
as, turpentine, tar, gums, etc., are more or less
viscid
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Viscid

VIS'CID

,
Adj.
[L. viscidus; viscus, birdlime.] Glutinous; sticky; tenacious; not readily separating; as, turpentine, tar, gums, &c. are more or less viscid.

Definition 2024


viscid

viscid

English

Adjective

viscid (comparative more viscid, superlative most viscid)

  1. Viscous; having a high viscosity.
  2. Sticky, slimy, or glutinous.
    • 1906, O. Henry, The Furnished Room
      They trod noiselessly upon a stair carpet that its own loom would have forsworn. It seemed to have become vegetable; to have degenerated in that rank, sunless air to lush lichen or spreading moss that grew in patches to the staircase and was viscid under the foot like organic matter.
  3. Covered with a viscid layer.

Usage notes

In everyday usage, much less common than viscous, with which it is roughly interchangeable. In careful usage, viscous is more often used for fluid flow, like honey, while viscid is used for a squishy, slimy feel of more solid substances, like mayonnaise.

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