Isolating

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Isolate \I"so*late\ ([imac]"s[-o]*l[=a]t or [imac]s"[-o]*l[=a]t;
     277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Isolated}
     ([imac]"s[-o]*l[=a]`t[e^]d); p. pr. & vb. n. {Isolating}
     ([imac]"s[-o]*l[=a]`t[i^]ng).] [It. isolato, p. p. of isolare
     to isolate, fr. isola island, L. insula. See 2d {Isle}, and
     cf. {Insulate}.]


     [1913 Webster]
     1. To place in a detached situation; to place by itself or
        alone; to insulate; to separate from others; as, to
        isolate an infected person from others; to isolate the
        troublemakers in a classroom.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
              Short isolated sentences were the mode in which
              ancient wisdom delighted to convey its precepts.
                                                    --Bp.
                                                    Warburton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Elec.) To insulate. See {Insulate}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Chem.) To separate (a substance) from all foreign
        substances; to make pure; to obtain in a free state; as,
        to isolate the desired product from a reaction mixture.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     4. (Microbiol.) To obtain a culture of a microorganism in
        pure form (from a complex mixture); as, to isolate
        {Eschericia coli} from a patient's blood.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  isolating
       adj : relating to or being a language in which each word typically
             expresses a distinct idea and part of speech and
             syntactical relations are determined almost exclusively
             by word order and particles [syn: {isolating(a)}]