capillary action
The movement of a liquid along the surface of a solid caused by the attraction of molecules of the liquid to the molecules of the solid.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
How to use capillary action in a sentence
Of course you have to keep wetting it, for hair will not draw oil fast enough by capillary action.
Where the Pavement Ends | John RussellBy this simple contrivance the capillary action can be stopped or renewed in a second, without removing the top of the lubricator.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew UreA cotton wick dipped in the oil may also serve the same purpose by its capillary action.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew UreBecause when hoed, thereby disturbing capillary action, he found less moisture than when unhoed, in surface soil.
We have now described the principal forms of the theory of capillary action during its earlier development.
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