Osmosis Definition
ŏz-mōsĭs, ŏs-
osmoses
noun
The tendency of a solvent to pass through a semipermeable membrane, as the wall of a living cell, into a solution of higher concentration, so as to equalize concentrations on both sides of the membrane.
Webster's New World
The diffusion of fluids through a membrane or porous partition.
Webster's New World
An apparently effortless absorption of ideas, feelings, attitudes, etc., as if by biological osmosis.
Webster's New World
A gradual, often unconscious process of assimilation or absorption.
Learned French by osmosis while residing in Paris for 15 years.
American Heritage
(slang) Picking up knowledge accidentally, without actually seeking that particular knowledge.
I was reading about chickens, and I guess I learned about hawks through osmosis.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
Origin of Osmosis
From obsolete osmose from earlier endosmose from French Greek endo- endo- Greek ōsmos thrust, push (from ōthein to push)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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