adjective of, containing, or resembling common table salt; salty or saltlike: a saline solution.
of or relating to a chemical salt, especially of sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc., as used as a cathartic.
of or relating to a method of abortion involving injection of hypertonic saline solution into the amniotic cavity during the second trimester.
noun a sterile solution of sodium chloride used to dilute medications or for intravenous therapy.
salty water; a salty solution.
Origin of saline 1400–50; Middle English: composed of salt <
Latin salīnus salty, equivalent to
sal sal +
-īnus -ine1 Related forms sa·lin·i·ty [suh -lin -i-tee] /səˈlɪn ɪ ti/ noun hy·per·sa·line , adjective hy·per·sa·lin·i·ty , noun non·sa·line , adjective non·sa·lin·i·ty , noun sem·i·sa·line , adjective sub·sa·line , adjective sub·sa·lin·i·ty , noun un·sa·line , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for saline Contemporary Examples of saline A nurse at Saline Memorial Hospice, she was leaving work when her ex-boyfriend fatally shot her before turning the gun on himself.
Discouting the gross factor of swimming in that saline cesspool, there are some awesome images.
I had saline mixed with Lidocaine pumped into my face to constrict my blood vessels and numb me so I could endure the zapping.
Each subject went through this process twice, once being given a saline vial, once a vial of actual tears.
Historical Examples of saline The residue is of a brown color, and has a saline , bitter taste.
His were the shinbones of the saline beef; his would have been the drumsticks.
Sales and rents of saline lands, produced an income of $4,636.
Water replete with saline particles, as brine-pickle for salt meat.
The walls are built of a sort of clay glittering with saline incrustations.
British Dictionary definitions for saline adjective of, concerned with, consisting of, or containing common salt a saline taste
med of or relating to a saline
of, concerned with, consisting of, or containing any chemical salt, esp a metallic salt resembling sodium chloride
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noun med an isotonic solution of sodium chloride in distilled water
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Derived Forms salinity (səˈlɪnɪtɪ ), noun Word Origin for saline C15: from Late Latin salīnus, from Latin sal salt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for saline adj. "made of salt," c.1500, probably from a Latin word related to salinum "salt cellar" and salinae "salt pits," from sal (genitive salis ) "salt" (see salt (n.)). Also in Middle English as a noun meaning "salt pit" (13c.). Saline solution attested from 1833.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
adj. Of, relating to, or containing salt; salty.
Of or relating to chemical salts.
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n. A salt of magnesium or of the alkalis, used in medicine as a cathartic.
A saline solution, especially one that is isotonic to blood.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
