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

This was her first real taste of public disapproval, and the solidification of the documentary's dominant emotion: loneliness.

From Salon

The process typically produces large temperature gradients, high solidification rates and repeated cycles of heating and cooling.

From Nature

“What we’ve seen in the last two election cycles is either a crystallization or solidification in voting preferences and increasingly party preferences as well,” Ramakrishnan said.

From Los Angeles Times

The solidification of the cult of Modi has been accompanied by an aggressive erosion of the legal and constitutional foundations on which the Indian republic stands.

From The Guardian

And at the end of the ocean’s solidification, minerals enriched in elements that were the last to enter the solid phase crystallized beneath the crust.

From Nature