| / English Dictionary |
FIXING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of putting something in working order again
Synonyms:
fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fixing" is a kind of...):
improvement (the act of improving something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fixing"):
darning (the act of mending a hole in a garment with crossing threads)
patching (the act of mending a hole in a garment by sewing a patch over it)
care; maintenance; upkeep (activity involved in maintaining something in good working order)
band aid; quick fix; quickie; quicky (hurried repair)
restoration (the act of restoring something or someone to a satisfactory state)
reconstruction (the activity of constructing something again)
restitution (the act of restoring something to its original state)
Derivation:
fix (restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken)
Sense 2
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:
fixation; fixing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fixing" 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 ("fixing" 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:
fix (kill, preserve, and harden (tissue) in order to prepare for microscopic study)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The sterilization of an animal
Example:
they took him to the vet for neutering
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("fixing" is a kind of...):
sterilisation; sterilization (the act of making an organism barren or infertile (unable to reproduce))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fixing"):
spaying (neutering a female by removing the ovaries)
castration; emasculation (neutering a male animal by removing the testicles)
Derivation:
fix (make infertile)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place
Synonyms:
fastener; fastening; fixing; holdfast
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("fixing" is a kind of...):
constraint; restraint (a device that retards something's motion)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fixing"):
knot (any of various fastenings formed by looping and tying a rope (or cord) upon itself or to another rope or to another object)
lashing (rope that is used for fastening something to something else)
link; linkup; tie; tie-in (a fastener that serves to join or connect)
lock (a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed)
locker (a fastener that locks or closes)
nail (a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener)
nut and bolt (a fastener made by screwing a nut onto a threaded bolt)
paper fastener (a fastener for holding a sheet of paper in place)
pin (a small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things)
screw (a fastener with a tapered threaded shank and a slotted head)
seal (fastener that provides a tight and perfect closure)
seal; sealing wax (fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm; used for sealing documents and parcels and letters)
slide fastener; zip; zip fastener; zipper (a fastener for locking together two toothed edges by means of a sliding tab)
press stud; snap; snap fastener (a fastener used on clothing; fastens with a snapping sound)
toggle (a fastener consisting of a peg or pin or crosspiece that is inserted into an eye at the end of a rope or a chain or a cable in order to fasten it to something (as another rope or chain or cable))
toggle bolt (a fastener consisting of a threaded bolt and a hinged spring-loaded toggle; used to fasten objects to hollow walls)
hook and eye (a kind of fastener used on clothing)
fillet; stopping (fastener consisting of a narrow strip of welded metal used to join steel members)
dowel; dowel pin; joggle (a fastener that is inserted into holes in two adjacent pieces and holds them together)
cringle; eyelet; grommet; grummet; loop (fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines)
cottar; cotter (fastener consisting of a wedge or pin inserted through a slot to hold two other pieces together)
corrugated fastener; wiggle nail (a small strip of corrugated steel with sharp points on one side; hammered across wood joints in rough carpentry)
clothes peg; clothes pin; clothespin (wood or plastic fastener; for holding clothes on a clothesline)
clip (any of various small fasteners used to hold loose articles together)
clinch (the flattened part of a nail or bolt or rivet)
cleat (a fastener (usually with two projecting horns) around which a rope can be secured)
clasp (a fastener (as a buckle or hook) that is used to hold two things together)
catch (a fastener that fastens or locks a door or window)
carabiner; karabiner; snap ring (an oblong metal ring with a spring clip; used in mountaineering to attach a rope to a piton or to connect two ropes)
button (a round fastener sewn to shirts and coats etc to fit through buttonholes)
buckle (fastener that fastens together two ends of a belt or strap; often has loose prong)
bellyband (a strap around the belly of a draft animal holding the shafts of a wagon)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb fix
Context examples:
‘These are coins of Charles the First,’ said he, holding out the few which had been in the box; ‘you see we were right in fixing our date for the Ritual.’
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He drew his moulinet from his girdle, and fixing it to the windlass, he drew back the powerful double cord until it had clicked into the catch.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Whilst the business of the fixing of the stakes and the fastening of the ropes was going forward, I from my place of vantage could hear the talk of the crowd behind me, the front two rows of which were lying upon the grass, the next two kneeling, and the others standing in serried ranks all up the side of the gently sloping hill, so that each line could just see over the shoulders of that which was in front.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Earth's atmosphere is about 78 percent nitrogen, and the Pakrasi lab in the Department of Biology just engineered a bacterium that can make use of that atmospheric gas—a process known as fixing nitrogen—in a significant step toward engineering plants that can do the same.
(Bacteria Used to Create Fertilizer Out of Thin Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
It is secreted as dimers into the mucosa and is the most effective isotype at fixing complement by the alternative pathway, even though it lacks the ability to fix complement by the classical pathway.
(IgA, NCI Thesaurus)
Dendritic clear cells in the epidermis, containing distinctive granules that appear rod- or racket-shaped in section, but lacking tonofilaments, melanosomes, and desmosomes; they carry surface receptors for immunoglobulin (Fc) and complement (C3), and are believed to be antigen fixing and processing cells of monocytic origin; active participants in cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity.
(Langerhans Cell, NCI Thesaurus)
I had once had some thought of fixing in town myself—for I am fond of superior society; but I did not feel quite certain that the air of London would agree with Lady Lucas.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Thus engaged, he appeared, sitting in his own recess, quiet and absorbed enough; but that blue eye of his had a habit of leaving the outlandish- looking grammar, and wandering over, and sometimes fixing upon us, his fellow-students, with a curious intensity of observation: if caught, it would be instantly withdrawn; yet ever and anon, it returned searchingly to our table.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I took nine of these sticks, and fixing them firmly in the ground in a quadrangular figure, two feet and a half square, I took four other sticks, and tied them parallel at each corner, about two feet from the ground; then I fastened my handkerchief to the nine sticks that stood erect; and extended it on all sides, till it was tight as the top of a drum; and the four parallel sticks, rising about five inches higher than the handkerchief, served as ledges on each side.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
When properly to relax is the trial of judgment; and, without reference to my brother, I really think Miss Thorpe has by no means chosen ill in fixing on the present hour.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
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