colloidal

American  

[kuh-loid-l] / kəˈlɔɪd l /

adjective

Physical Chemistry.

1. pertaining to or of the nature of a colloid.

   colloidal gold and silver.

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Other Word Forms

• colloidality noun
• colloidally adverb
• noncolloidal adjective
• semicolloidal adjective

Etymology

Origin of colloidal

First recorded in 1860–65; colloid + -al ¹

Example Sentences

To better understand how these structures emerge, researchers often study colloidal particles, which are tiny spheres suspended in liquid that naturally assemble into ordered arrangements known as colloidal crystals.

From Science Daily

Such colloidal particles -- small solid particles suspended in a fluid phase -- can be seen as an excellent way to measure and also manipulate the motion of the living cells' membrane.

From Science Daily

Physicists at Leipzig University have now created a type of neural network that works not with electricity but with so-called active colloidal particles.

From Science Daily

Secondly, flexible DNA provides additional degrees of freedom in the assembly of non-space-filling polyhedral nanoparticles, leading to the creation of complex crystals with symmetries not previously achievable with colloidal crystal engineering with DNA.

From Science Daily

That’s because she was ingesting large amounts of colloidal silver, which are small particles of the metal silver in a liquid solution.

From Salon