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adsorb

[ad-sawrb, -zawrb]
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verb (used with object) Physical Chemistry.
  1. to gather (a gas, liquid, or dissolved substance) on a surface in a condensed layer: Charcoal will adsorb gases.
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Origin of adsorb

First recorded in 1880–85; ad- + (ab)sorb
Related formsad·sorb·a·ble, adjectivead·sorb·a·bil·i·ty, nounad·sorb·ent, adjective, nounad·sorp·tion [ad-sawrp-shuh n, -zawrp-] /ædˈsɔrp ʃən, -ˈzɔrp-/, nounad·sorp·tive, adjectivead·sorp·tive·ly, adverb
Can be confusedabsorb adsorb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for adsorb

adsorb

verb
  1. to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which a substance, usually a gas, accumulates on the surface of a solid forming a thin film, often only one molecule thickto adsorb hydrogen on nickel; oxygen adsorbs on tungsten Compare absorb (def. 8)
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Derived Formsadsorbable, adjectiveadsorbability, nounadsorption, noun

Word Origin

C19: ad- + -sorb as in absorb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for adsorb

v.

1882, transitive (intransitive use attested from 1919), back-formation from adsorption (1882), coined in German from ad- + -sorption, abstracted from absorption. See absorb. Related: Adsorbent; adsorption.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
adsorb in Medicine

adsorb

(ăd-zôrb′)
v.
  1. To take up by adsorption.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.