Solution

5 definitions found

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

  Solution \So*lu"tion\ (s[-o]*l[=u]"sh[u^]n), n. [OE. solucion,
     OF. solucion, F. solution, fr. L. solutio, fr. solvere,
     solutum, to loosen, dissolve. See {Solve}.]
     1. The act of separating the parts of any body, or the
        condition of undergoing a separation of parts; disruption;
        breach.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              In all bodies there is an appetite of union and
              evitation of solution of continuity.  --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The act of solving, or the state of being solved; the
        disentanglement of any intricate problem or difficult
        question; explanation; clearing up; -- used especially in
        mathematics, either of the process of solving an equation
        or problem, or the result of the process.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The state of being dissolved or disintegrated; resolution;
        disintegration.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is unquestionably an enterprise of more promise
              to assail the nations in their hour of faintness and
              solution, than at a time when magnificent and
              seductive systems of worship were at their height of
              energy and splendor.                  --I. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Chem.Phys.) The act or process by which a body (whether
        solid, liquid, or gaseous) is absorbed into a liquid, and,
        remaining or becoming fluid, is diffused throughout the
        solvent; also, the product resulting from such absorption.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: When a solvent will not take in any more of a substance
           the solution is said to be saturated. Solution is of
           two kinds; viz.: (a) {Mechanical solution}, in which no
           marked chemical change takes place, and in which, in
           the case of solids, the dissolved body can be regained
           by evaporation, as in the solution of salt or sugar in
           water. (b) {Chemical solution}, in which there is
           involved a decided chemical change, as when limestone
           or zinc undergoes solution in hydrochloric acid.
           {Mechanical solution} is regarded as a form of
           molecular or atomic attraction, and is probably
           occasioned by the formation of certain very weak and
           unstable compounds which are easily dissociated and
           pass into new and similar compounds.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: This word is not used in chemistry or mineralogy for
           fusion, or the melting of bodies by the heat of fire.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     5. Release; deliverance; discharge. [Obs.] --Barrow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Med.)
        (a) The termination of a disease; resolution.
        (b) A crisis.
        (c) A liquid medicine or preparation (usually aqueous) in
            which the solid ingredients are wholly soluble. --U.
            S. Disp.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Fehling's solution} (Chem.), a standardized solution of
        cupric hydrate in sodium potassium tartrate, used as a
        means of determining the reducing power of certain sugars
        and sirups by the amount of red cuprous oxide thrown down.
        
  
     {Heavy solution} (Min.), a liquid of high density, as a
        solution of mercuric iodide in potassium iodide (called
        the {Sonstadt solution} or {Thoulet solution}) having a
        maximum specific gravity of 3.2, or of borotungstate of
        cadium ({Klein solution}, specific gravity 3.6), and the
        like. Such solutions are much used in determining the
        specific gravities of minerals, and in separating them
        when mechanically mixed as in a pulverized rock.
  
     {Nessler's solution}. See {Nesslerize}.
  
     {Solution of continuity}, the separation of connection, or of
        connected substances or parts; -- applied, in surgery, to
        a fracture, laceration, or the like. "As in the natural
        body a wound, or solution of continuity, is worse than a
        corrupt humor, so in the spiritual." --Bacon.
  
     {Standardized solution} (Chem.), a solution which is used as
        a reagent, and is of a known and standard strength;
        specifically, a normal solution, containing in each cubic
        centimeter as many milligrams of the element in question
        as the number representing its atomic weight; thus, a
        normal solution of silver nitrate would contain 107.7 mgr.
        of silver in each cubic centimeter.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  solution
       n 1: a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances; frequently
            (but not necessarily) a liquid solution; "he used a
            solution of peroxide and water"
       2: a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve
          the problem; "they were trying to find a peaceful
          solution"; "the answers were in the back of the book"; "he
          computed the result to four decimal places" [syn: {answer},
           {result}, {resolution}, {solvent}]
       3: a method for solving a problem; "the easy solution is to
          look it up in the handbook"
       4: the set of values that give a true statement when
          substituted into an equation [syn: {root}]
       5: the successful action of solving a problem; "the solution
          took three hours"

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

  125 Moby Thesaurus words for "solution":
     action, ad hoc measure, adaptation, allegorization, answer,
     arrangement, artifice, blend, chemical solution, clarification,
     colliquation, compound, conclusion, contrivance, countermove, coup,
     course of action, cracking, decipherment, decoagulation, decoction,
     decoding, deliquescence, deliquium, demarche, demonstration,
     demythologization, denouement, device, discovery, dissolution,
     dissolving, dodge, editing, effort, elucidation, emendation,
     emulsion, enlightenment, euhemerism, exegesis, exemplification,
     expedient, explanation, explication, exposition, expounding,
     finding out, fluid, fluidification, fluidization, fusing, fusion,
     gimmick, harmonization, illumination, illustration, improvisation,
     infusion, instrumentation, intonation, jury-rig,
     jury-rigged expedient, key, last expedient, last resort,
     last shift, leach, leachate, leaching, light, liquefaction,
     liquescence, liquescency, liquid, lixiviation, lixivium, makeshift,
     maneuver, means, measure, melting, mixing, mixture, modulation,
     move, orchestration, outcome, percolation, phrasing, pis aller,
     preparation, rationale, reason, resolution, resort, resource,
     result, revelation, running, setting, settlement, settling,
     shake-up, shift, simplification, solubilization, solving, step,
     stopgap, stratagem, stroke, stroke of policy, suspension, tactic,
     temporary expedient, thawing, tone painting, transcription, trick,
     trump, unclotting, unlocking, working hypothesis,
     working proposition
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  solution
       
           A {marketroid} term for something he wants to sell
          you without bothering you with the often dizzying distinctions
          between {hardware}, {software}, {services}, {applications},
          {file formats}, companies, brand names and {operating
          systems}.
       
          "{Flash} is a perfect image-streaming solution."  "What is
          it?"  "Um...  about a thousand dollars."
       
          See also: {technology}.
       
          (1998-07-07)
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  SOLUTION, civil law. Payment. 
       2. By this term, is understood, every species of discharge or 
  liberation, which is called satisfaction, and with which the creditor is 
  satisfied. Dig. 46, 3, 54; Code 8, 43, 17; Inst. 3, 30. This term has rather 
  a reference to the substance of the obligation, than to the numeration or 
  counting of the money. Dig. 50, 16, 176. Vide Discharge of a contract.