CAPILLARY ACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does capillary action mean? 

• CAPILLARY ACTION (noun)
  The noun CAPILLARY ACTION has 1 sense:

1. a phenomenon associated with surface tension and resulting in the elevation or depression of liquids in capillaries

  Familiarity information: CAPILLARY ACTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CAPILLARY ACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A phenomenon associated with surface tension and resulting in the elevation or depression of liquids in capillaries

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

capillarity; capillary action

Hypernyms ("capillary action" is a kind of...):

surface tension (a phenomenon at the surface of a liquid caused by intermolecular forces)

 Context examples 

A tube with a narrow diameter designed to hold a liquid by capillary action.

(Capillary Tube Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Only the tiniest sample needs to be provided, which seeps by capillary action from the sampling area to the recognition area, where a particular colour will appear, depending on the concentration of the compound being analysed.

(Scientists design devices to calculate the concentration of potassium in water, of creatinine in urine, or glucose in blood using smartphone technology, University of Granada)