saline

[sey-leen, -lahyn]

adjective

1. of, containing, or resembling common table salt; salty or saltlike.

   a saline solution.

2. of or relating to a chemical salt, especially of sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc., as used as a cathartic.

3. of or relating to a method of abortion involving injection of hypertonic saline solution into the amniotic cavity during the second trimester.

noun

1. a sterile solution of sodium chloride used to dilute medications or for intravenous therapy.

2. salty water; a salty solution.

saline

/ səˈlɪnɪtɪ, ˈseɪlaɪn /

adjective

1. of, concerned with, consisting of, or containing common salt

   a saline taste

2. med of or relating to a saline

3. of, concerned with, consisting of, or containing any chemical salt, esp a metallic salt resembling sodium chloride

noun

1. med an isotonic solution of sodium chloride in distilled water

saline

1. Of or containing salt.

Other Word Forms

• salinity noun
• hypersaline adjective
• nonsaline adjective
• semisaline adjective
• subsaline adjective
• unsaline adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of saline¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English: “composed of salt,” from Latin salīnus “salty,” equivalent to sal “salt” + -īnus adjective suffix; sal, -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of saline¹

C15: from Late Latin salīnus, from Latin sal salt

Example Sentences

Several dozen horses calmly graze along the shores of Mono Lake, a sparkling saline expanse spread out before the jagged Sierra Nevada mountains.

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They scrounged for clean blankets, saline and other emergency medical supplies in the dusty and mud-caked camp.

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While on holiday she was fascinated by their foraging behaviour as they moved gracefully through the shallow, saline wetlands, filter-feeding for molluscs and crustaceans.

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Medical teams triaged evacuees in a car park, wrapping up wounds and stringing up bags of saline for IV drips under tents.

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This small species, the Wilson’s phalarope, arrives from the north in large numbers each summer to feed at the saline lake, preparing for a long journey to South America.

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Related Words

• briny