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rigid

 - 4 dictionary results

rig⋅id

[rij-id]
–adjective
1. stiff or unyielding; not pliant or flexible; hard: a rigid strip of metal.
2. firmly fixed or set.
3. inflexible, strict, or severe: a rigid disciplinarian; rigid rules of social behavior.
4. exacting; thorough; rigorous: a rigid examination.
5. so as to meet precise standards; stringent: lenses ground to rigid specifications.
6. Mechanics. of, pertaining to, or noting a body in which the distance between any pair of points remains fixed under all forces; having infinite values for its shear modulus, bulk modulus, and Young's modulus.
7. Aeronautics.
a. (of an airship or dirigible) having a form maintained by a stiff, unyielding structure contained within the envelope.
b. pertaining to a helicopter rotor that is held fixedly at its root.

Origin:
1530–40; < L rigidus, equiv. to rig(ēre) to be stiff, stiffen + -idus -id 4


ri⋅gid⋅i⋅ty, rig⋅id⋅ness, noun
rig⋅id⋅ly, adverb


1. unbending, firm, inflexible. 2. immovable, static. 3. austere, stern, unyielding. See strict. 4, 5. demanding.


1. elastic. 3. lax.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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rig·id   (rĭj'ĭd)   
adj.  
  1. Not flexible or pliant; stiff.

  2. Not moving; fixed.

  3. Marked by a lack of flexibility; rigorous and exacting: "We have watered down a rigid training . . . until we now have an educational diet in many of our public high schools that nourishes neither the classes nor the masses" (Agnes Meyer).

  4. Scrupulously maintained or performed: rigid discipline. See Synonyms at stiff.


[Middle English rigide, from Latin rigidus, from rigēre, to be stiff; see reig- in Indo-European roots.]
rig'id·ly adv., rig'id·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rigid 
1538, from L. rigidus "hard, stiff, rough, severe," from rigere "be stiff," from PIE *reig- "stretch (tight), bind tightly, make fast" (cf. O.Ir. riag "torture," M.H.G. ric "band, string"), related to L. frigus "cold," Gk. rhigos "frost, cold."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: rig·id
Pronunciation: 'rij-&d
Function: adjective
: deficient in or devoid of flexibility : characterized by stiffness<rigid muscles>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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