Adjacent Words

Solution definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOLU'TION, n. [L. solutio, from solvo, to loosen, melt, dissolve. See Solve.]
1. The act of separating the parts of any body; disruption; breach.
2. The operation or process of dissolving or melting in a fluid; as the solution of sugar or salt. [Note. This word is not used in chimistry or mineralogy for the dissolution or melting of bodies by the heat of fire.] The term solution is appiled to a very extensive class of phenomena. When a solid disappears in a liquid, if the compound exhibits perfect transparency, we have an example of solution. The word is applied both to the act of combination and to the result of the process. Thus common salt disappears in water, that is its solution takes place, and the liquid obtain ed is called a solution of salt in water. Solution is the result of attraction or affinity between. the fluid and the solid. This affinity continues to operate to a certain point, where it is overbalanced bly the cohesion of the solid; it then ceases the fluid issaid to be saturated, the point where the operation ceases is called saturation, and the fluid is called a saturated solution. Solution is a true chimical union. Mixture is a mere mechanicall union of bodies.
3. Resolution; explanation; the act of explaning or removing difficulty or doubt; as the solution of a doubt in casuistry.
4. Release; deliverance; discharge.
5. In algebra and geometry, the answering of a question, or the resolving of a problem proposed.
SOLUTION OF CONTINUITY, the separation of connection of connected substances or parts; applied, in surgery, to a fracture, laceration, etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances; frequently (but not necessarily) a liquid solution; "he used a solution of peroxide and water"
2: a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem; "they were trying to find a peaceful solution"; "the answers were in the back of the book"; "he computed the result to four decimal places" [syn: solution, answer, result, resolution, solvent]
3: a method for solving a problem; "the easy solution is to look it up in the handbook"
4: the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation [syn: solution, root]
5: the successful action of solving a problem; "the solution took three hours"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English solucion explanation, dispersal of bodily humors, from Anglo-French, from Latin solution-, solutio, from solvere to loosen, solve Date: 14th century 1. a. an action or process of solving a problem b. an answer to a problem ; explanation; specifically a set of values of the variables that satisfies an equation 2. a. an act or the process by which a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance is homogeneously mixed with a liquid or sometimes a gas or solid b. a homogeneous mixture formed by this process; especially a single-phase liquid system c. the condition of being dissolved 3. a bringing or coming to an end or into a state of discontinuity

Britannica Concise

In chemistry, a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances in relative amounts that can vary continuously up to the limit of solubility (saturation), if any, of one in the other. Most solutions are liquids, but solutions of gases and solids are possible--for example, air (composed primarily of oxygen and nitrogen) or brass (composed chiefly of copper and zinc). The liquid in a solution is the solvent, and the substance added is the solute; if both are liquids, the one present in a smaller amount is usually considered the solute. If the saturation point is passed, excess solute separates out. Materials with ionic bonds (e.g., salts) and many with covalent bonds (e.g., acids, bases, alcohols) undergo dissociation into ions on dissolving and are called electrolytes. Their solutions can conduct electricity and have other properties that differ from those of nonelectrolytes. Solutions are involved in most chemical reactions, refining and purification, industrial processing, and biological phenomena.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or a means of solving a problem or difficulty. 2 a the conversion of a solid or gas into a liquid by mixture with a liquid solvent. b the state resulting from this (held in solution). 3 the act of dissolving or the state of being dissolved. 4 the act of separating or breaking. 5 = rubber solution (see RUBBER(1)). Phrases and idioms: solution set Math. the set of all the solutions of an equation or condition. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L solutio -onis (as SOLVE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Solution So*lu"tion (s[-o]*l[=u]"sh[u^]n), n. [OE. solucion, OF. solucion, F. solution, fr. L. solutio, fr. solvere, solutum, to loosen, dissolve. See Solve.] 1. The act of separating the parts of any body, or the condition of undergoing a separation of parts; disruption; breach. In all bodies there is an appetite of union and evitation of solution of continuity. --Bacon. 2. The act of solving, or the state of being solved; the disentanglement of any intricate problem or difficult question; explanation; clearing up; -- used especially in mathematics, either of the process of solving an equation or problem, or the result of the process. 3. The state of being dissolved or disintegrated; resolution; disintegration. It is unquestionably an enterprise of more promise to assail the nations in their hour of faintness and solution, than at a time when magnificent and seductive systems of worship were at their height of energy and splendor. --I. Taylor. 4. (Chem.Phys.) The act or process by which a body (whether solid, liquid, or gaseous) is absorbed into a liquid, and, remaining or becoming fluid, is diffused throughout the solvent; also, the product reulting from such absorption. Note: When a solvent will not take in any more of a substance the solution is said to be saturated. Solution is two kinds; viz.: (a) Mechanical solution, in which no marked chemical change takes place, and in which, in the case of solids, the dissolved body can be regained by evaporation, as in the solution of salt or sugar in water. (b) Chemical solution, in which there is involved a decided chemical change, as when limestone or zinc undergoes solution in hydrochloric acid. Mechanical solution is regarded as a form of molecular or atomic attraction, and is probably occasioned by the formation of certain very weak and unstable compounds which are easily dissociated and pass into new and similar compounds. Note: This word is not used in chemistry or mineralogy for fusion, or the melting of bodies by the heat of fire. 5. release; deliverance; discharge. [Obs.] --Barrow. 6. (Med.) (a) The termination of a disease; resolution. (b) A crisis. (c) A liquid medicine or preparation (usually aqueous) in which the solid ingredients are wholly soluble. --U. S. Disp. Fehling's solution (Chem.), a standardized solution of cupric hydrate in sodium potassium tartrate, used as a means of determining the reducing power of certain sugars and sirups by the amount of red cuprous oxide thrown down. Heavy solution (Min.), a liquid of high density, as a solution of mercuric iodide in potassium iodide (called the Sonstadt or Thoulet solution) having a maximum specific gravity of 3.2, or of borotungstate of cadium (Klein solution, specific gravity 3.6), and the like. Such solutions are much used in determining the specific gravities of minerals, and in separating them when mechanically mixed as in a pulverized rock. Nessler's solution. See Nesslerize. Solution of continuity, the separation of connection, or of connected substances or parts; -- applied, in surgery, to a fracture, laceration, or the like. ``As in the natural body a wound, or solution of continuity, is worse than a corrupt humor, so in the spiritual.'' --Bacon. Standardized solution (Chem.), a solution which is used as a reagent, and is of a known and standard strength; specifically, a normal solution, containing in each cubic centimeter as many milligrams of the element in question as the number representing its atomic weight; thus, a normal solution of silver nitrate would contain 107.7 mgr. of silver nitrate in each cubic centimeter.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(solutions) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A solution to a problem or difficult situation is a way of dealing with it so that the difficulty is removed. Although he has sought to find a peaceful solution, he is facing pressure to use greater military force. ...the ability to sort out simple, effective solutions to practical problems. N-COUNT: oft N to n 2. The solution to a puzzle is the answer to it. ...the solution to crossword No. 19721. N-COUNT 3. A solution is a liquid in which a solid substance has been dissolved. ...a warm solution of liquid detergent... N-COUNT: also in N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Disruption, breach, disjunction, disconnection, discontinuance. 2. Explanation, explication, resolution, disentanglement, elucidation. 3. Liquefaction, dissolution, melting. 4. Dissolution, disunion. 5. Disintegration, separation, resolution.

Moby Thesaurus

action, ad hoc measure, adaptation, allegorization, answer, arrangement, artifice, blend, chemical solution, clarification, colliquation, compound, conclusion, contrivance, countermove, coup, course of action, cracking, decipherment, decoagulation, decoction, decoding, deliquescence, deliquium, demarche, demonstration, demythologization, denouement, device, discovery, dissolution, dissolving, dodge, editing, effort, elucidation, emendation, emulsion, enlightenment, euhemerism, exegesis, exemplification, expedient, explanation, explication, exposition, expounding, finding out, fluid, fluidification, fluidization, fusing, fusion, gimmick, harmonization, illumination, illustration, improvisation, infusion, instrumentation, intonation, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, key, last expedient, last resort, last shift, leach, leachate, leaching, light, liquefaction, liquescence, liquescency, liquid, lixiviation, lixivium, makeshift, maneuver, means, measure, melting, mixing, mixture, modulation, move, orchestration, outcome, percolation, phrasing, pis aller, preparation, rationale, reason, resolution, resort, resource, result, revelation, running, setting, settlement, settling, shake-up, shift, simplification, solubilization, solving, step, stopgap, stratagem, stroke, stroke of policy, suspension, tactic, temporary expedient, thawing, tone painting, transcription, trick, trump, unclotting, unlocking, working hypothesis, working proposition