Unsaturated

2 definitions found

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

  Unsaturated \Un*sat"u*ra`ted\, a.
     1. Capable of absorbing or dissolving to a greater degree;
        as, an unsaturated solution.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Chem.) Capable of taking up, or of uniting with, certain


        other elements or compounds, without the elimination of
        any side product; thus, aldehyde, ethylene, and ammonia
        are unsaturated; benzene has three unsaturated bonds. The
        term is applied most commonly to compounds with a double
        or triple bond between two carbon atoms (as in ethylene).
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  unsaturated
       adj 1: not saturated; capable of dissolving more of a substance at
              a given temperature; "an unsaturated salt solution"
              [ant: {saturated}]
       2: used of a compound (especially of carbon) containing atoms
          sharing more than one valence bond; "unsaturated fats"
          [ant: {saturated}]
       3: (of color) not chromatically pure; diluted; "an unsaturated
          red" [ant: {saturated}]