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isotonic

American  
[ahy-suh-ton-ik] / ˌaɪ səˈtɒn ɪk /

adjective

  1. Physical Chemistry. Also noting or pertaining to solutions characterized by equal osmotic pressure.

  2. Physiology.

    1. noting or pertaining to a solution containing the same salt concentration as mammalian blood.

    2. noting or pertaining to a muscular contraction in which constant tension continues while the length of the muscle decreases, as during mechanical work.

  3. Music. of or characterized by equal tones.


isotonic British  
/ ˌaɪsəʊˈtɒnɪk, ˌaɪsəʊtəʊˈnɪsɪtɪ /

adjective

  1. physiol (of two or more muscles) having equal tension

  2. (of a drink) designed to replace the fluid and salts lost from the body during strenuous exercise

  3. Also: isosmotic.  (of two solutions) having the same osmotic pressure, commonly having physiological osmotic pressure Compare hypertonic hypotonic

  4. music of, relating to, or characterized by the equal intervals of the well-tempered scale

    isotonic tuning

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of isotonic

1820–30; < Greek isóton ( os ) having equal accent or tone ( see iso-, tone) + -ic

Vocabulary lists containing isotonic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Hydration breaks, ice jackets, cooling towels and isotonic drinks have been a feature of the World Cup so far as hot weather impacts matches.

From BBC Jun. 17, 2026

Many marine invertebrates have internal salt levels matched to their environments, making them isotonic with the water in which they live.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

Saline at a concentration that is isotonic with respect to body fluids.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

Sports drinks can be divided into hypotonic, isotonic, and hypertonic.

From Textbooks Dec. 21, 2021

The method depends on the principle that solutions isotonic to the blood corpuscles and to the blood serum will not alter the volume of the blood corpuscles, whereas hypertonic solutions decrease that volume.

From The Mechanism of Life by Leduc, Stéphane

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