bipolar
[bahy-poh-ler]
- having two poles, as the earth.
- of, relating to, or found at both polar regions.
- characterized by opposite extremes, as two conflicting political philosophies.
- Electronics. of or relating to a transistor that uses both positive and negative charge carriers.
- Psychiatry. of, relating to, or having bipolar disorder: His wife is bipolar.
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Origin of bipolar
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bipolar
Contemporary Examples
Interestingly, the PLOS Medicine article noted, Otsuka makes the same claim for schizophrenia as it does for bipolar disorder.
As in, we have no idea why this medication seems to help people with bipolar disorder.
A 33-year-old bipolar man walked into a store, lied about his mental health, and walked out with a deadly weapon.
And the bipolar junkie will stop at nothing to be promoted to detective inspector in a bid to win back his wife and children.
James McAvoy on ‘Filth,’ His Wild Bachelor Party, and BB Gun Fights with Jennifer LawrenceMarlow Stern
May 21, 2014
For mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder, the hospitalization rate has jumped 80 percent since 1997.
Historical Examples
Everything in nature is bipolar, or has a positive and negative pole.
Essays, Second SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
Some dynamos are bipolar, or have two poles, others are multipolar or have more than two.
PhysicsWillis Eugene Tower
If the connexion is only with one, the vesicle is called unipolar; if with two, bipolar; if with many, multipolar or stellate.
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume II (of 2)John William Draper
Unipolar spots are very seldom observed without some indication of the characteristics of bipolar groups.
AstronomyDavid Todd
The bipolar spot seems to be the dominant type, and the unipolar type a variant of it.
AstronomyDavid Todd
bipolar
- having two polesa bipolar dynamo; a bipolar neuron
- relating to or found at the North and South Poles
- having or characterized by two opposed opinions, natures, etc
- (of a transistor) utilizing both majority and minority charge carriers
- suffering from bipolar manic-depressive disorder
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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 bipolar
adj.
"having two poles," from bi- + polar; 1810 with figurative sense of "of double aspect;" 1859 with reference to physiology. Psychiatric use in reference to what had been called manic-depressive psychosis is said to have begun 1957 with German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard. The term became popular early 1990s. Bipolar disorder was in DSM III (1980).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
bipolar
(bī-pō′lər)- Having two poles; used especially of nerve cells in which the branches project from two usually opposite points.
- Of or relating to both ends or poles of a bacterial or other cell.
- Of or relating to a major mood disorder that is characterized by episodes of mania and depression.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
bipolar
[bī-pō′lər]
- Relating to or having two poles or charges.
- Relating to a semiconductor device, such as a transistor, that exploits the electrical characteristics of contact between two substances, one with an inherent positive charge, the other with an inherent negative charge.
- Relating to or involving both of the Earth's polar regions.
- Relating to a neuron that has two processes or extremities.
- Relating to bipolar disorder.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.