Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A method or process of dealing with a problem.
  • noun The answer to a problem or the explanation for something.
  • noun A homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, which may be solids, liquids, gases, or a combination of these.
  • noun The process of forming such a mixture.
  • noun The state of being dissolved.
  • noun Archaic The act of separating or breaking up; dissolution.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of separating the parts of any body; disruption; rupture; fracture; breach: as, a solution of continuity (see below).
  • noun The transformation of matter from a solid or gaseous state to the liquid state by means of a liquid called the solvent or menstruum; the state of being dissolved.
  • noun The liquid produced as a result of the process or action above described; the preparation made by dissolving a solid in a liquid: as, a solution salt, soda, or alum; solution of iron, etc.
  • noun A liquid or dissolved state or condition; unsettled state; suspense.
  • noun The act of solving, working out, explaining, clearing up, or settling, or the state of being solved, explained, cleared up, or settled; resolution; explanation: as, the solution of a difficult problem or of a doubt in casuistry.
  • noun A method of solving or finally clearing up or settling something. Specifically
  • noun The answer to a problem or puzzle of any kind, together with the proof that that answer is correct.
  • noun Dissolution; a dissolving.
  • noun Release; deliverance; discharge.
  • noun In medicine, the termination of a disease, especially when accompanied by critical symptoms; the crisis of a disease.
  • noun In civil law, payment; satisfaction of a creditor.
  • noun A solution of the general quartic, due to Professor Cayley. Let U = 0 be the quartic, H its Hessian, S its quadrinvariant, T its cubinvariant or catalecticant, and c 1, c2, c 3 the roots of the cubic c——S c—T = 0, then the solution follows from The square roots can always be extracted.
  • noun Normal solutions are of great value in volumetric chemical analysis. When solutions of less strength than the normal are desired, they are diluted one half, one fifth, one tenth, and one one-hundredth, giving seminormal, quintinormal, decinormal, and centinormal solutions. These are usually abbreviated as and .

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of separating the parts of any body, or the condition of undergoing a separation of parts; disruption; breach.
  • noun 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.
  • noun The state of being dissolved or disintegrated; resolution; disintegration.
  • noun (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.
  • noun obsolete Release; deliverance; discharge.
  • noun The termination of a disease; resolution.
  • noun A crisis.
  • noun A liquid medicine or preparation (usually aqueous) in which the solid ingredients are wholly soluble.
  • noun (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.
  • noun (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.
  • noun See Nesslerize.
  • noun the separation of connection, or of connected substances or parts; -- applied, in surgery, to a fracture, laceration, or the like.
  • noun (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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A homogeneous mixture, which may be liquid, gas or solid, formed by dissolving one or more substances.
  • noun An act, plan or other means, used or proposed, to solve a problem.
  • noun mathematics The answer to a problem.
  • noun A product, service or suite thereof.
  • noun law Satisfaction of a claim or debt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a method for solving a problem
  • noun the successful action of solving a problem
  • noun the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation
  • noun a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances; frequently (but not necessarily) a liquid solution
  • noun a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin solūtiō, solūtiōn-, from solūtus, past participle of solvere, to loosen; see solute.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French solucion (French: solution).

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Examples

  • If a proposed solution involves tacitly changing these payoffs, then this ˜solution™ is in fact a disguised way of changing the subject.

    Game Theory Ross, Don 2006

  • Ruby-colored glass based on this gold-tin solution is closely associated with Johannes Kunckel, glassmaker and alchemist to Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • The insulin solution is passed through a Mandler filter.

    Frederick G. Banting - Nobel Lecture 1965

  • Third, creating an Arab coalition to persuade Israel to adopt a 2-state solution is code for we want to ramp up the pressure to force you to do something we want, to do something that you know is detrimental to your survival but we don't care.

    Israelated - English Israel blogs 2009

  • The second reason why I do not like the word solution - in that respect I hate it - that in German solution is Lösung.

    Israpundit 2009

  • In the New table concept instead, the solution is all packed in the FastLeg structure.

    Ulisse Bed & Desk Space Saving System 2009

  • Quote: Frankly, the solution is a meeting by Hillary Clinton and her English counterpart to solve this diplomacy problem before a new RIAA-American created copyright war erupts

    Did Obama make QEII a copyright criminal? 2009

  • Frankly, the solution is a meeting by Hillary Clinton and her English counterpart to solve this diplomacy problem before a new RIAA-American created copyright war erupts.

    Did Obama make QEII a copyright criminal? 2009

  • With its proposal, France can say it has included private creditors toward what it calls a solution.

    The French Deception 2011

  • So, we can package up the criticism that no long term solution is offered, and point it at whom ever we choose.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » House Democratic Leaders Drop “Deem and Pass” 2010

Comments

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  • JM has just the problem for your solution.

    August 26, 2011