Definition of "polarity" [po•lar•i•ty]

• Intrinsic polar separation, alignment, or orientation, especially of a physical property: magnetic polarity; ionic polarity. (noun)
• An indicated polar extreme: an electric terminal with positive polarity. (noun)
• The possession or manifestation of two opposing attributes, tendencies, or principles: political polarity. (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.

• "Since polarity is such a function-critical variable, shifts in polarity could have dramatic effects on fitness (e.g., be lethal!)."
• "This polarity is reflected in cinema as well, with the substance most commonly depicted as either a hilarious holy grail or a gateway to harder, darker substances."
• "It has been demonstrated that the five new gases, or "noble gases" as they are often called, form a natural family of elements which by the absence of electric polarity is strictly differentiated from all elements previously known, filling a void in the periodic system hitherto existing between the highly negative halogens and the highly positive alkali metals."