| / English Dictionary |
FIXATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):
preservation (a process that saves organic substances from decay)
Domain category:
histology (the branch of biology that studies the microscopic structure of animal or plant tissues)
Holonyms ("fixation" is a part of...):
plastination (a process involving fixation and dehydration and forced impregnation and hardening of biological tissues; water and lipids are replaced by curable polymers (silicone or epoxy or polyester) that are subsequently hardened)
Derivation:
fixate (make fixed, stable or stationary)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The activity of fastening something firmly in position
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):
attachment; fastening (the act of fastening things together)
Derivation:
fixate (make fixed, stable or stationary)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone
Synonyms:
fixation; obsession
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):
preoccupation (an idea that preoccupies the mind and holds the attention)
Derivation:
fixate (pay attention to exclusively and obsessively)
fixate (attach (oneself) to a person or thing in a neurotic way)
Sense 4
Meaning:
An abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely
Synonyms:
arrested development; fixation; infantile fixation; regression
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("fixation" is a kind of...):
abnormalcy; abnormality (an abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies)
Context examples:
The next steps for the team are to dig deeper into the details of the process, perhaps narrow down even further the subset of genes necessary for nitrogen fixation, and collaborate with other plant scientists to apply the lessons learned from this study to the next level: nitrogen-fixing plants.
(Bacteria Used to Create Fertilizer Out of Thin Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
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