viscid
Americanadjective
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having a glutinous consistency; sticky; adhesive; viscous.
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Botany. covered by a sticky substance.
adjective
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cohesive and sticky; glutinous; viscous
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(esp of a leaf) covered with a sticky substance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of viscid
1625–35; < Late Latin viscidus, equivalent to Latin visc ( um ) mistletoe, birdlime made from mistletoe + -idus -id 4; see viscous
Explanation
The adjective viscid is used to describe something that is sticky or a thick, slow-moving liquid. If you bake bread and you get flour all over your counters, clean it up carefully because adding water can turn the flour into a viscid paste, and then you'll really have a mess! The word viscid is from the Latin word viscum, or birdlime. Birdlime is a sticky substance made from sap and is smeared on branches. Small birds land on the branches and are trapped, allowing someone to easily catch them. The word viscous comes from the same root and has a similar meaning — think of lava and how it moves slowly and thickly down a mountain.
Vocabulary lists containing viscid
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On Friday, Wilkes released an album of his own, “One Theme and Subsequent Improvisation,” which flows from an equally viscid vein.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2021
And when an ingredient does happen to feature that viscid texture, many Japanese cooks like to let it shine, maximizing the sliminess rather than masking it.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2021
The band makes a deeply rooted form of experimental jazz, tending toward dark, viscid harmonies and patient escalations.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2017
They pair an itchy, viscid sentence style with a pitch-black mood.
From Slate ● Feb. 10, 2017
I could hear the creature breathing in the dark, a viscid leaking like faulty pipeworks.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
