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Webster 1913 Edition


Colloid

Col′loid

,
Adj.
[Gr.
κόλλα
glue +
-oid
. Cf.
Collodion
.]
Resembling glue or jelly; characterized by a jellylike appearance; gelatinous;
as,
colloid
tumors
.

Col′loid

,
Noun.
1.
(Physiol. Chem.)
A substance (as albumin, gum, gelatin, etc.) which is of a gelatinous rather than a crystalline nature, and which diffuses itself through animal membranes or vegetable parchment more slowly than crystalloids do; – opposed to crystalloid.
2.
(Med.)
A gelatinous substance found in colloid degeneration and colloid cancer.
Styptic colloid
(Med.)
,
a preparation of astringent and antiseptic substances with some colloid material, as collodion, for ready use.

Definition 2024


colloid

colloid

English

Adjective

colloid (comparative more colloid, superlative most colloid)

  1. Glue-like; gelatinous.
    colloid tumours

Noun

colloid (plural colloids)

  1. (chemistry) A stable system of two phases, one of which is dispersed in the other in the form of very small droplets or particles.
  2. (meteorology) An intimate mixture of two substances one of which, called the dispersed phase (or colloid), is uniformly distributed in a finely divided state throughout the second substance, called the dispersion medium (or dispersing medium). The dispersion medium may be a gas, a liquid, or a solid, and the dispersed phase may also be any of these, with the exception that one does not speak of a colloidal system of one gas in another. A system of liquid or solid particles colloidally dispersed in a gas is called an aerosol. A system of solid substances or water-insoluble liquids colloidally dispersed in liquid water is called a hydrosol.
  3. (geology) A particle less than 1 micron in diameter, following the Wentworth scale

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See also