Precipitation

3 definitions found

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

  Precipitation \Pre*cip`i*ta"tion\, n. [L. praecipitatio: cf. F.
     pr['e]cipitation.]
     1. The act of precipitating, or the state of being
        precipitated, or thrown headlong.
        [1913 Webster]
  


              In peril of precipitation
              From off rock Tarpeian.               --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A falling, flowing, or rushing downward with violence and
        rapidity.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The hurry, precipitation, and rapid motion of the
              water, returning . . . towards the sea. --Woodward.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Great hurry; rash, tumultuous haste; impetuosity. "The
        precipitation of inexperience." --Rambler.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Chem.) The act or process of precipitating from a
        solution.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Meteorology) A deposit on the earth of hail, mist, rain,
        sleet, or snow; also, the quantity of water deposited.
  
     Note: Deposits of dew, fog, and frost are not regarded by the
           United States Weather Bureau as precipitation. Sleet
           and snow are melted, and the record of precipitation
           shows the depth of the horizontal layers of water in
           hundredths of an inch or in millimeters.
           [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  precipitation
       n 1: the quantity of water falling to earth at a specific place
            within a specified period of time; "the storm brought
            several inches of precipitation"
       2: the process of forming a chemical precipitate
       3: the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or
          hail or sleet or mist) [syn: {downfall}]
       4: the act of casting down or falling headlong from a height
       5: an unexpected acceleration or hastening; "he is responsible
          for the precipitation of his own demise"
       6: overly eager speed (and possible carelessness); "he soon
          regretted his haste" [syn: {haste}, {hastiness}, {hurry},
          {hurriedness}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  128 Moby Thesaurus words for "precipitation":
     Scotch mist, abruptness, air speed, alacrity, alluvion, alluvium,
     ash, blood rain, carelessness, celerity, cinder, clinker, deposit,
     deposition, deposits, desperateness, devil-may-careness, diluvium,
     dispatch, downcast, downpour, downthrow, draff, dregs, drizzle,
     dross, ember, evening mist, expedition, expeditiousness, fall,
     fastness, feces, feverishness, flight, flit, flurry, forwardness,
     froth, furiousness, gout of rain, ground speed, grounds, hail,
     haste, hastiness, heedlessness, hotheadedness, hurriedness, hurry,
     impatience, impetuosity, impetuousness, impulse, impulsiveness,
     instantaneousness, knots, lees, lightning speed, loess,
     miles per hour, mist, misty rain, mizzle, moisture, moraine,
     offscum, overeagerness, overenthusiasm, overhastiness, overthrow,
     overturn, overzealousness, patter, pitter-patter, precipitance,
     precipitancy, precipitate, precipitateness, precipitousness,
     precociousness, precocity, prematureness, prematurity, promptitude,
     promptness, quickness, rain, raindrop, rainfall, rainwater,
     rapidity, rashness, recklessness, round pace, rpm, rush, scoria,
     scum, sediment, sedimentation, settlings, sheet of rain, shower,
     showers, silt, sinter, slag, sleet, smut, snappiness, snow,
     snowfall, soot, speed, speediness, splatter, sprinkle, sublimate,
     suddenness, swift rate, swiftness, unfrozen hydrometeor,
     untimeliness, velocity, wantonness, wet, wildness