Definition of "nematic" [nematic]

• Of or relating to the mesomorphic phase of a liquid crystal in which the molecules are oriented in loose parallel lines. (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.

• "One of the ordered phases is the "nematic" phase, in which the molecules move as if in an ordinary three-dimensional liquid, but with their axes mainly pointing the same way."
• "The magazine New Scientist reports researchers have developed a prototype of such glasses, each lens of which consists of a five-micron layer of nematic liquid crystal sandwiched between two pieces of glass."
• "Further development of this technique enabled us to synthesize helical polyacetylene that consists of clockwise or counterclockwise helical structure of fibrils, by use of chiral nematic liquid crystals."