Word Meanings - DIFFUSION - Book Publishers vocabulary database

The act of passing by osmosis through animal membranes, as in the distribution of poisons, gases, etc., through the body. Unlike absorption, diffusion may go on after death, that is, after the blood ceases to circulate. Syn. -- Extension; spread;

Additional info about word: DIFFUSION

The act of passing by osmosis through animal membranes, as in the distribution of poisons, gases, etc., through the body. Unlike absorption, diffusion may go on after death, that is, after the blood ceases to circulate. Syn. -- Extension; spread; propagation; circulation; expansion; dispersion. (more info) 1. The act of diffusing, or the state of being diffused; a spreading; extension; dissemination; circulation; dispersion. A diffusion of knowledge which has undermined superstition. Burke.

Related words: (words related to DIFFUSION)

• BLOODSUCKER
  Any animal that sucks blood; esp., the leech (Hirudo medicinalis), and related species. 2. One who sheds blood; a cruel, bloodthirsty man; one guilty of bloodshed; a murderer. Shak. 3. A hard and exacting master, landlord, or money lender; an
• PASS
  passer, LL. passare, fr. L. passus step, or from pandere, passum, to 1. To go; to move; to proceed; to be moved or transferred from one point to another; to make a transit; -- usually with a following adverb or adverbal phrase defining the kind
• SPREADINGLY
  , adv. Increasingly. The best times were spreadingly infected. Milton.
• AFTERCAST
  A throw of dice after the game in ended; hence, anything done too late. Gower.
• BLOODSHEDDER
  One who sheds blood; a manslayer; a murderer.
• DEATHLIKE
  1. Resembling death. A deathlike slumber, and a dead repose. Pope. 2. Deadly. "Deathlike dragons." Shak.
• ANIMALIZATION
  1. The act of animalizing; the giving of animal life, or endowing with animal properties. 2. Conversion into animal matter by the process of assimilation. Owen.
• DEATHLY
  Deadly; fatal; mortal; destructive.
• ANIMALCULISM
  The theory which seeks to explain certain physiological and pathological by means of animalcules.
• AFTER
  To ward the stern of the ship; -- applied to any object in the rear part of a vessel; as the after cabin, after hatchway. Note: It is often combined with its noun; as, after-bowlines, after- braces, after-sails, after-yards, those on the mainmasts
• AFTERPAINS
  The pains which succeed childbirth, as in expelling the afterbirth.
• BLOODULF
  The European bullfinch.
• ANIMALITY
  Animal existence or nature. Locke.
• PASSOVER
  A feast of the Jews, instituted to commemorate the sparing of the Hebrews in Egypt, when God, smiting the firstborn of the Egyptians, passed over the houses of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of a lamb. The sacrifice offered at
• PASSUS
  A division or part; a canto; as, the passus of Piers Plowman. See 2d Fit.
• BLOODROOT
  A plant , with a red root and red sap, and bearing a pretty, white flower in early spring; -- called also puccoon, redroot, bloodwort, tetterwort, turmeric, and Indian paint. It has acrid emetic properties, and the rootstock is used as a stimulant
• DEATHLINESS
  The quality of being deathly; deadliness. Southey.
• ANIMALLY
  Physically. G. Eliot.
• ANIMALNESS
  Animality.
• PASSIBILITY
  The quality or state of being passible; aptness to feel or suffer; sensibility. Hakewill.
• 'SBLOOD
  An abbreviation of God's blood; -- used as an oath. Shak.
• COMPASSIONATELY
  In a compassionate manner; mercifully. Clarendon.
• SURPASS
  To go beyond in anything good or bad; to exceed; to excel. This would surpass Common revenge and interrupt his joy. Milton. Syn. -- To exceed; excel; outdo; outstrip.
• REABSORPTION
  The act or process of rearbsorbing.