Definitions

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

  • noun Equilibrium in the earth's crust such that the forces tending to elevate landmasses balance the forces tending to depress landmasses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In physical, balance or equilibrium; the property of attaining a condition of stable equilibrium when under the action of permanent stress.

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

  • noun (Geol.) The state or quality of being isostatic.

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

  • noun geology The state of balance or pressure equilibrium thought to exist within the Earth's crust, whereby the upper lithosphere floats on denser magma beneath.

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

  • noun (geology) a general equilibrium of the forces tending to elevate or depress the earth's crust

Etymologies

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

[iso– + Greek stasis, a standstill; see stā- in Indo-European roots + –y.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From iso- + Ancient Greek στάσις.

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Examples

Comments

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  • With nukes that fly across the sea

    We strive to balance bellicosity.

    The nations assume

    Their mutual doom,

    So peace is preserved by isostasy.

    February 15, 2017