solidification

American  

[suh-lid-uh-fi-key-shuhn] / səˌlɪd ə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of becoming a hard or compact mass, or of changing from a liquid or gaseous state to a solid state.

   Magma and lava undergo solidification under different conditions, and, as a result, form rocks with different characteristics.

2. the act or process of unifying or coming together.

   There has been some consolidation and solidification in political parties at the national level, but participation in regional level politics has been in decline.

3. the act or process of becoming significant, substantial, or real.

   The orchestra's solidification as an American institution took place in the late 1930s under the direction of Maestro Otto Klemperer.

   It is scientifically documented that the solidification of false memories is very much impacted by repetition.

4. the act or process of encapsulating hazardous waste within a solid substance in order to prevent leaching or contamination of surrounding materials.

   The most frequently used waste-disposal technologies are incineration, solidification and stabilization, and pump-and-treat technologies for groundwater.

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Other Word Forms

• nonsolidification noun
• oversolidification noun
• resolidification noun

Etymology

Origin of solidification

First recorded in 1780–90; from French, equivalent to solid ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -fication ( def. )

Example Sentences

Crustal solidification: The process by which Earth's once-molten surface cooled and hardened into a solid crust.

From Science Daily

Micro-scratch tests confirmed that these layers adhered strongly to the alloy surface, with minimal degradation, even under high thermal stresses caused by LiPb solidification.

From Science Daily

Upon solidification, a phase separation into a pure solvent, here ice, and a solute and particles occurs, with the ice templating the solute/particle phase.

From Science Daily

These new results suggest the mechanism driving Earth's early dynamo was similarly efficient to the solidification process that generates Earth's magnetic field today.

From Science Daily

Regardless of the exact recipe, the fundamental ice crystal formation, fat solidification and serum phase separation steps are the same.

From Salon