flux

[fluhks]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flux ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a flowing or flow.

the flowing in of the tide.

continuous change, passage, or movement: His political views are in a state of flux.

Physics.

the rate of flow of fluid, particles, or energy.
a quantity expressing the strength of a field of force in a given area.

Chemistry, Metallurgy.

a substance used to refine metals by combining with impurities to form a molten mixture that can be readily removed.
a substance used to remove oxides from and prevent further oxidation of fused metal, as in soldering or hot-dip coating.
(in the refining of scrap or other metal) a salt or mixture of salts that combines with nonmetallic impurities, causing them to float or coagulate.

fusion.

verb (used with object)

to melt; make fluid.

to fuse by the use of flux.

Obsolete. to purge.

verb (used without object)

to flow.

Origin of flux

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin fluxus a flowing, equivalent to fluc-, variant stem of fluere to flow + -tus suffix of v. action, with ct > x

Related formsnon·flux, nounsu·per·flux, nountrans·flux, noun

Synonyms for flux

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flux ON THESAURUS.COM

1. course, current, flood, stream.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for flux

fluidity, fluctuation, transition, flow, alteration, motion, unrest, mutation, modification, instability, change, mutability

Examples from the Web for flux

Contemporary Examples of flux

Cheerleaders fall in love with freaks, jocks aspire to be indie musicians, and relationships are in a constant state of flux.
In Praise of ‘Awkward’: OMFG MTV, Like, Really Gets High School
Amy Zimmerman
June 20, 2014
Twitter, like the national debt or Lindsay Lohans's sobriety, is in a constant state of flux.
A Song of Twitter and George R.R. Martin: The Unexpected Players of the Twitterverse
Amy Zimmerman
June 10, 2014
Stem cell differentiation involves a plethora of regulatory factors and signals that are in a constant state of flux.
This Is the Way You’ll Live Forever
Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Tej Azad
May 6, 2014
The Good Wife introduced its potentially fatal fatality into a world already in flux.
Life After TV Death: How Shows Like ‘Game of Thrones’ Kill Your Favorite Characters
Phillip Maciak
April 15, 2014
Rome is graceful, outlandish, grand, cold, eternal, in flux, and full of olive-rich contradictions.
The New Fellini: Paolo Sorrentino’s ‘The Great Beauty’
Jimmy So
November 18, 2013

Historical Examples of flux

Let us first approach the river-gods, or patrons of the flux.
Theaetetus
Plato
This was the subjective which corresponded to the objective 'All is flux.'
Theaetetus
Plato
The sense of flux which had haunted her all the year disappeared for a time.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
The inventor of words being a patron of the flux, was a great enemy to stagnation.
Cratylus
Plato
Whether the doctrine of the flux or of the eternal nature be the truer, is hard to determine.
Cratylus
Plato

British Dictionary definitions for flux

flux

noun

a flow or discharge

continuous change; instability

a substance, such as borax or salt, that gives a low melting-point mixture with a metal oxide. It is used for cleaning metal surfaces during soldering, etc, and for protecting the surfaces of liquid metals

metallurgy a chemical used to increase the fluidity of refining slags in order to promote the rate of chemical reaction

a similar substance used in the making of glass

physics

the rate of flow of particles, energy, or a fluid, through a specified area, such as that of neutrons (neutron flux) or of light energy (luminous flux)
the strength of a field in a given area expressed as the product of the area and the component of the field strength at right angles to the areamagnetic flux; electric flux

pathol an excessive discharge of fluid from the body, such as watery faeces in diarrhoea

the act or process of melting; fusion

(in the philosophy of Heraclitus) the state of constant change in which all things exist

verb

to make or become fluid

(tr) to apply flux to (a metal, soldered joint, etc)

(tr) an obsolete word for purge

Word Origin for flux

C14: from Latin fluxus a flow, from fluere to flow

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 flux

late 14c., from Old French flus "flowing, rolling, bleeding," or directly from Latin fluxus "flowing, loose, slack," past participle of fluere "to flow" (see fluent). Originally "excessive flow" (of blood or excrement); an early name for "dysentery;" sense of "continuous succession of changes" is first recorded 1620s. The verb is early 15c., from the noun.

flux in Medicine

flux

[flŭks]

n.

The discharge of large quantities of fluid material from the body, especially the discharge of watery feces from the intestines.

Material thus discharged from the bowels.

The rate of flow of fluid, particles, or energy through a given surface.

Flux density.

flux in Science

flux

[flŭks]

The rate of flow of fluids, particles, or energy across a given surface or area.

The presence of a field of force in a region of space, represented as a set of lines indicating the direction of the force. The density of the lines indicates the strength of the force. Lines used to represent magnetic fields in depictions of magnets, for example, follow the lines of flux of the field. See also field magnetic flux.

A measure of the strength of such a field.

A readily fusible glass or enamel used as a base in ceramic work.

An additive that improves the flow of plastics during fabrication.

A substance applied to a surface to be joined by welding, soldering, or brazing to facilitate the flowing of solder and prevent formation of oxides.

A substance used in a smelting furnace to make metals melt more easily.