Library / English Dictionary

SATURATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause (a chemical compound, vapour, solution, magnetic material) to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "saturate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

saturation (the act of soaking thoroughly with a liquid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Infuse or fill completely

Example:

Impregnate the cloth with alcohol

Synonyms:

impregnate; saturate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "saturate" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "saturate"):

medicate (impregnate with a medicinal substance)

alcoholise; alcoholize (treat or infuse with alcohol)

imbue; soak (fill, soak, or imbue totally)

ammonify (treat with ammonia; cause to undergo ammonification)

thoriate (impregnate with thorium oxide to increase thermionic emission)

stuff (treat with grease, fill, and prepare for mounting)

charge (saturate)

drench; imbrue (permeate or impregnate)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They saturate the cloth with water and alcohol

Credits

 Context examples: 

A saturated fatty acid with a 15-carbon backbone.

(Pentadecylic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

The determination of the amount of partial pressure of oxygen when hemoglobin is half saturated that is present in a sample.

(P50 Oxygen Measurement, NCI Thesaurus)

A saturated medium-chain fatty acid with an 8-carbon backbone.

(Octanoic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

Pick foods that are low in cholesterol and fat, especially saturated and trans fats.

(Nutrition for Seniors, NIH: National Institute on Aging)

Role of saturated fats in cancer causation or prevention and in general health.

(Nutrition, Fats, Saturated, NCI Thesaurus)

However, mutant mice fed a diet rich in saturated fats and cholesterol were largely protected.

(Diet Affects Autoinflammatory Disease Via Gut Microbes, NIH)

A saturated short-chain fatty acid with a 4-carbon backbone.

(Butyric Acid, NCI Thesaurus)

I was not merely over head and ears in love with her, but I was saturated through and through.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Carboxylic acids can be saturated, unsaturated, or aromatic.

(Carboxylic Acids, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Separation of a product from a saturated solution by cooling the liquid or adding precipitants which lower the solubility of the desired product so that it forms crystals.

(Crystallization Purification, NCI Thesaurus)