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Definition of "colloid" []

  • Chemistry A system in which finely divided particles, which are approximately 10 to 10,000 angstroms in size, are dispersed within a continuous medium in a manner that prevents them from being filtered easily or settled rapidly. (noun)
  • Chemistry The particulate matter so dispersed. (noun)
  • Physiology The gelatinous product of the thyroid gland, consisting mainly of thyroglobulin, which serves as the precursor and storage form of thyroid hormone. (noun)
  • Pathology Gelatinous material resulting from colloid degeneration in diseased tissue. (noun)
  • Of, relating to, containing, or having the nature of a colloid. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "colloid" in a sentence
  • "When the secreting elements increase out of proportion to the stroma, numerous rounded or irregular spaces filled with a thick yellow colloid material are formed in the substance of the goitre -- _colloid goitre_."
  • "Early work in colloid chemistry had also been carried out by Wolfgang Ostwald, son of the 1909 Laureate Wilhelm Ostwald, but this was not of a caliber earning him a Nobel Prize."
  • "If the mass concentration of the colloid is known, it is easy to obtain the mass of the particles, and from this - assuming, for example, a spherical shape and normal specific gravity - the size can be calculated."