Definition of "dissociation" [dis•so•ci•a•tion]

• The act of dissociating or the condition of having been dissociated. (noun)
• Chemistry The process by which the action of a solvent or a change in physical condition, as in pressure or temperature, causes a molecule to split into simpler groups of atoms, single atoms, or ions. (noun)
• Chemistry The separation of an electrolyte into ions of opposite charge. (noun)
• Psychiatry A psychological defense mechanism in which specific, anxiety-provoking thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations are separated from the rest of the psyche. (noun)

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.

• "* -- We have employed the term dissociation to indicate a rupture of that bond -- whatever be its nature-which may be supposed to exist normally between stimulus and reaction and which causes normal persons to respond in the majority of instances by common reactions."
• "As Brian Trappler, M.D writes for Psychology Today, "The most extreme immediate response to severe emotional trauma is called 'dissociation,' a condition in which a person's awareness and ability to engage psychologically in the present is temporarily lost.""
• "In collaboration with Bohr and K.A. Hasselbalch the influence of the CO2 tension on the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve of the blood was demonstrated."