a substance, as a liquid or gas, that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change its shape.
–adjective
2.
pertaining to a substance that easily changes its shape; capable of flowing.
3.
consisting of or pertaining to fluids.
4.
changing readily; shifting; not fixed, stable, or rigid: fluid movements.
5.
convertible into cash: fluid assets.
[Origin: 1595–1605; < L fluidus, equiv. to flu(ere) to flow + -idus-id4]
flu·idAudio Help (flōō'ĭd) Pronunciation Key
n.
A continuous, amorphous substance whose molecules move freely past one another and that has the tendency to assume the shape of its container; a liquid or gas.
adj.
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a fluid.
Readily reshaped; pliable.
Smooth and flowing; graceful: the fluid motion of a cat.
Changing or tending to change; variable: a fluid situation fraught with uncertainty.
Characterized by or allowing social mobility: a fluid society.
Convertible into cash: fluid assets.
[From Middle English, flowing, from Old French fluide, from Latin fluidus, from fluere, to flow; see bhleu- in Indo-European roots.]
fluidAudio Help (fl'ĭd) Pronunciation Key
A state of matter, such as liquid or gas, in which the component particles (generally molecules) can move past one another. Fluids flow easily and conform to the shape of their containers. See also state of matter, viscosity.
Dram\, n. [OF. drame, F. drachme, L. drachma, drachm, drachma, fr. Gr. ?, prop., a handful, fr. ? to grasp. Cf. Drachm, Drachma.]1. A weight; in Apothecaries' weight, one eighth part of an ounce, or sixty grains; in Avoirdupois weight, one sixteenth part of an ounce, or 27.34375 grains. 2. A minute quantity; a mite. Were I the chooser, a dram of well-doing should be preferred before many times as mush the forcible hindrance of evildoing. --Milton. 3. As much spirituous liquor as is usually drunk at once; as, a dram of brandy; hence, a potation or potion; as, a dram of poison. --Shak. 4. (Numis.) A Persian daric. --Ezra ii. 69. Fluid dram, or Fluid drachm. See under Fluid.
Flu"id\, a. [L. fluidus, fr. fluere to flow: cf. F. fluide. See Fluent.] Having particles which easily move and change their relative position without a separation of the mass, and which easily yield to pressure; capable of flowing; liquid or gaseous.