Colloid definition

kŏloid
colloids
See word origin
Frequency:
A mixture in which very small particles of one substance are distributed evenly throughout another substance. The particles are generally larger than those in a solution, and smaller than those in a suspension. Paints, milk, and fog are colloids.
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The definition of a colloid is a combination of molecules mixed through other substances that will not settle out or join with the other substance.

Mayonnaise and blood are both examples of colloids.

noun
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The gelatinous stored secretion of the thyroid gland, consisting mainly of thyroglobulin.
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Of, relating to, containing, or having the nature of a colloid.
adjective
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The gelatinous stored secretion of the thyroid gland, consisting mainly of thyroglobulin.
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A system in which finely divided particles, which are approximately 1 to 1,000 millimicrons in size, are dispersed within a continuous medium in a manner that prevents them from being filtered easily or settled rapidly.
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Of, relating to, containing, or having the nature of a colloid.
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Gelatinous material resulting from degeneration in diseased tissue.
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The iodine-containing, gelatinous protein stored in the thyroid.
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A solid, liquid, or gaseous substance made up of very small, insoluble particles (as single large molecules or masses of smaller molecules) that remain in suspension in a surrounding solid, liquid, or gaseous medium of different matter.
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A state of matter consisting of such a substance dispersed in a surrounding medium: all living matter contains colloidal material, and a colloid has only a negligible effect on the freezing point, boiling point, or vapor pressure of the surrounding medium.
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Gelatinous material resulting from degeneration in diseased tissue.
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A system in which finely divided particles, which are approximately 1 to 1,000 millimicrons in size, are dispersed within a continuous medium in a manner that prevents them from being filtered easily or settled rapidly.
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The particulate matter so dispersed.
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Colloid tumours.

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(chemistry) A stable system of two phases, one of which is dispersed in the other in the form of very small droplets or particles.
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(meteorology) An intimate mixture of two substances one of which, called the dispersed phase (colloid), is uniformly distributed in a finely divided state throughout the second substance, called the dispersion medium (dispersing medium). The dispersion medium may be a gas, a liquid, or a solid, and the dispersed phase may also be any of these, with the exception that one does not speak of a colloidal system of one gas in another. A system of liquid or solid particles colloidally dispersed in a gas is called an aerosol. A system of solid substances or water-insoluble liquids colloidally dispersed in liquid water is called a hydrosol.
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(geology) A particle less than 1 micron in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
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The particulate matter so dispersed.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
colloid
Plural:
colloids

Origin of colloid

  • From French colloïde, from Ancient Greek κόλλα (kolla, “glue”) + -oid.

    From Wiktionary

Colloid Sentence Examples

  • In the normal thyroid there is formed and stored up in the spaces this colloid material.

  • The employment of guncotton as a propellant was possible only after the discovery that it could be gelatinized or made into a colloid by the action of so called solvents, e.g.

  • The wax-like or amyloid substance has a certain resemblance to the colloid, mucoid and hyaline.

  • In the mucinoid conditions, usually termed "mucoid " and " colloid " degenerations, we have closely allied substances which, like the normal mucins of the body, belong to the glucoproteids, and have in common similar physical characters.

  • It is not yet agreed whether colloid solution is the same in kind though different in degree from crystalloid solution or is a phenomenon of an entirely different order.

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Words near colloid in the Dictionary