colloid

col·loid

(kŏl′oid′)

1. Chemistry

a. A system in which finely divided particles, which are approximately 1 to 1,000 millimicrons in size, are dispersed within a continuous medium in a manner that prevents them from being filtered easily or settled rapidly.

b. The particulate matter so dispersed.

2. The gelatinous stored secretion of the thyroid gland, consisting mainly of thyroglobulin.

3. Gelatinous material resulting from degeneration in diseased tissue.

adj.

Of, relating to, containing, or having the nature of a colloid.

col·loi′dal (kə-loid′l, kŏ-) adj.

col·loi′dal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

colloid

(ˈkɒlɔɪd)

1. (Chemistry) Also called: colloidal solution or colloidal suspension a mixture having particles of one component, with diameters between 10^–7 and 10^–9 metres, suspended in a continuous phase of another component. The mixture has properties between those of a solution and a fine suspension

2. (Chemistry) the solid suspended phase in such a mixture

3. (Chemistry) obsolete a substance that in solution does not penetrate a semipermeable membrane. Compare crystalloid²

4. (Physiology) physiol a gelatinous substance of the thyroid follicles that holds the hormonal secretions of the thyroid gland

adj

5. (Pathology) pathol of or relating to the gluelike translucent material found in certain degenerating tissues

6. (Chemistry) of, denoting, or having the character of a colloid

[C19: from Greek kolla glue + -oid]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

col•loid

(ˈkɒl ɔɪd)

1. a substance made up of small particles (too small to be seen under an optical microscope, yet too big to pass through a semipermeable membrane) that are suspended in and dispersed throughout a solid, liquid, or gaseous medium.

2. a colloidal substance in the body, as a stored secretion.

adj.

3. colloidal.

[1840–50; < Greek kóll(a) glue + -oid]

col·loid

(kŏl′oid′)

A mixture in which very small particles of one substance are distributed evenly throughout another substance. The particles are generally larger than those in a solution, and smaller than those in a suspension. Paints, milk, and fog are examples of colloids. Compare solution, suspension.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

colloid

A substance made of very small particles whose size (1-100 nm) is between those of a suspension and those in solution.