Definition of "osmosis" []

• Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an equal concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane. (noun)
• The tendency of fluids to diffuse in such a manner. (noun)
• A gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption: learned French by osmosis while residing in Paris for 15 years. (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.

• "The most common alternative, reverse osmosis, is cheaper, but it 's still pricey and energy-intensive."
• "He didn't he just absorbed by osmosis from the blog the fact that I'd be interested in anything Woolfy he might find for my shelves on his bookshop travels."
• "Now, instead of picking up gossip by osmosis from the next booth at Terry’s Nook, their only leads arrive by telephone."