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Volatile - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Volatile : adj
1: evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures;
"volatile oils"; "volatile solvents" [ant: nonvolatile]
2: liable to lead to sudden change or violence; "an explosive
issue"; "a volatile situation with troops and rioters
eager for a confrontation" [syn: explosive]
3: marked by erratic changeableness in affections or
attachments; "fickle friends"; "a flirt's volatile
affections" [syn: fickle]
4: tending to vary often or widely; "volatile stocks";
"volatile emotions"
(noun)
1: a volatile substance; a substance that changes readily from
solid or liquid to a vapor; "it was heated to evaporate
the volatiles"
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Volatile : \Vol"a*tile\, a. [F. volatil, L. volatilis, fr. volare
to fly, perhaps akin to velox swift, E. velocity. Cf.
Volley.]
1. Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force
of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly. [Obs.]
2. Capable of wasting away, or of easily passing into the
a["e]riform state; subject to evaporation.
Note: Substances which affect the smell with pungent or
fragrant odors, as musk, hartshorn, and essential oils,
are called volatile substances, because they waste away
on exposure to the atmosphere. Alcohol and ether are
called volatile liquids for a similar reason, and
because they easily pass into the state of vapor on the
application of heat. On the contrary, gold is a fixed
substance, because it does not suffer waste, even when
exposed to the heat of a furnace; and oils are called
fixed when they do not evaporate on simple exposure to
the atmosphere.
3. Fig.: Light-hearted; easily affected by circumstances;
airy; lively; hence, changeable; fickle; as, a volatile
temper.
You are as giddy and volatile as ever. --Swift.
Volatile alkali. (Old Chem.) See under Alkali.
Volatile liniment, a liniment composed of sweet oil and
ammonia, so called from the readiness with which the
latter evaporates.
Volatile oils. (Chem.) See Essential oils, under
Essential.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Volatile : \Vol"a*tile\, n. [Cf. F. volatile.]
A winged animal; wild fowl; game. [Obs.] --Chaucer. --Sir T.
Browne.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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