solution

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, which may be solids, liquids, gases, or a combination of these.
2. n. The process of forming such a mixture.
3. n. The state of being dissolved.
4. n. The method or process of solving a problem.
5. n. The answer to or disposition of a problem.
6. n. Law Payment or satisfaction of a claim or debt.
7. n. The act of separating or breaking up; dissolution.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of separating the parts of any body; disruption; rupture; fracture; breach: as, a solution of continuity (see below).
2. n. 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. The nature of the phenomenon depends upon whether chemical action is or is not present Solution in the physical sense—the common and proper use of the word—is illustrated by dissolving sugar or salt in water, or silver in mercury; here, and in similar cases, when by the removal of the liquid (as by evaporation) the original solid is obtained, the process is essentially [a change of molecular state, from the solid to the liquid, and hence accompanied by the absorption of heat; this is strikingly seen in freezing-mixtures. The word is not infrequently used, however, when the phenomenon is one of chemical combination only, as when silver dissolves in nitric acid, forming a new substance, silver nitrate; this, as is generally true of chemical union, is accompanied by the evolution of heat. The two phenomena, physical and chemical, may both be present in solution at the same time, and the line between them often cannot be sharply drawn; glacial acetic acid dissolves in water and at the same time combines with it, the liberation of heat of the chemical part of the process overbalancing the absorption of heat in the physical. The solution of a gas in a liquid, as of ammonia gas in water (also called absorption), is essentially the physical process of the change of the gas to the liquid, and hence is accompanied with the evolution of heat. The term solution is also sometimes applied to the absorption of gases by solids, as when palladium absorbs or dissolves hydrogen gas, forming a true alloy with it. The solubility of any solid is constant at a given temperature, and may be accurately determined by experiment. It may be increased or diminished by the presence of other substances in solution. The solubility of any gas also is constant under the same conditions. It varies with the temperature, the pressure, the nature of the liquid, and the matters in solution in it. In a mixture of gases, each is dissolved in the same quantity as if it were present alone under the same tension as in the mixture.
3. n. 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.
4. n. A liquid or dissolved state or condition; unsettled state; suspense.
5. n. 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.
6. n. A method of solving or finally clearing up or settling something. Specifically
7. n. The answer to a problem or puzzle of any kind, together with the proof that that answer is correct.
8. n. Dissolution; a dissolving.
9. n. Release; deliverance; discharge.
10. n. In medicine, the termination of a disease, especially when accompanied by critical symptoms; the crisis of a disease.
11. n. In civil law, payment; satisfaction of a creditor.
12. n. 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.
13. n. 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 .

Wiktionary

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

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of separating the parts of any body, or the condition of undergoing a separation of parts; disruption; breach.
2. n. 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.
3. n. The state of being dissolved or disintegrated; resolution; disintegration.
4. n. (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.
5. n. obsolete Release; deliverance; discharge.
6. n. The termination of a disease; resolution.
7. n. A crisis.
8. n. A liquid medicine or preparation (usually aqueous) in which the solid ingredients are wholly soluble.

WordNet 3.0

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