liquid crystal

American  

noun

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

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liquid crystal British  

noun

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

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liquid crystal Scientific  

1. 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.

2. See more at LCD

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Etymology

Origin of liquid crystal

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

liquid crystal

When voltage is applied to the liquid crystal its molecules rotate, which changes the polarization of light transmitted through the waveguide.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024

To test the devices, the researchers injected laser light in the waveguide and then varied the voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer, which modulated the light.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024

The scientists are working to obtain a patent for their discovery and plan to further test it with different types of liquid crystal molecules and solidified polymers made of these molecules.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024

The liquid crystal is widely used nowadays, for example, as a core element of LCD devices.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 13, 2023

And one entered, as into the liquid crystal of a source, a greenish limpidity, a sheet of silver reposing beneath reflected reeds.

From Abbe Mouret's Transgression by Émile Zola