semifluid

[sem-ee-floo-id, sem-ahy-]

adjective

1. imperfectly fluid; having both fluid and solid characteristics; semiliquid.

noun

1. a semifluid substance.

semifluid

/ ˌsɛmɪˈfluːɪd /

adjective

1. having properties between those of a liquid and those of a solid

noun

1. a substance that has such properties because of high viscosity

   tar is a semifluid

Other Word Forms

• semifluidity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of semifluid¹

First recorded in 1725–35; semi- + fluid

Example Sentences

The idea that the fluid and semifluid as well as the solid constituents of the body contain the vital principle diffused through them he formed in 1755-1756, when, in making drawings illustrative of the changes that take place in the incubated egg, he noted specially that neither the white nor the yolk undergoes putrefaction.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

These deposits, which are highly characteristic of gout, appear at first to take place in the form of a semifluid material, consisting for the most part of urate of soda, which gradually becomes more dense, and ultimately quite hard.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

The sac broke two days later, smearing the bottom of the turtle's dish with semifluid yolk.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

In the sedimentary rocks of North America there occur also extensive and valuable deposits of semifluid and solid hydrocarbons, such as maltha, asphaltum, albertite, grahamite, uintahite, etc., which have arisen, under the most plausible explanation thus far offered, from the concentration by evaporation of fluid hydrocarbons such as petroleum.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

In brief, gaseous, fluid, semifluid, and solid hydrocarbons in great variety are widely distributed throughout the portions of North America where the surface is composed of sedimentary beds, and in a few instances occur in cavities in igneous rocks as well.

Read more on Project Gutenberg