definitions

liquid crystal

noun

a liquid having certain crystalline characteristics, especially different optical properties in different directions when exposed to an electric field.

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Nearby words

liqueur, liquid, liquid air, liquid asset, liquid compass, liquid crystal, liquid ecstasy, liquid fire, liquid gold, liquid measure, liquid oxygen

Origin of liquid crystal

First recorded in 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for liquid crystal

liquid crystal

noun

a liquid that has some crystalline characteristics, such as the presence of different optical properties in different directions; a substance in a mesomorphic stateSee also smectic, nematic
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

Science definitions for liquid crystal

liquid crystal

Any of various liquids in which molecules are regularly arrayed like a solid crystal along one or two dimensions, but are free in the other dimensions as with typical liquids. Liquid crystals often display unusual and often manipulable optical properties such as anisotropic scattering. See more at LCD.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.