# liquid

Pronunciation: say "LIK-wid" /ˈlɪkwɪd/

## Noun

1. A flowing substance whose molecules readily change position without drifting apart, so it keeps no shape of its own but fills whatever container holds it.
   - Simple: A flowing substance that takes the shape of whatever holds it, like water.
   - _The chemist heated the solid until it melted into a clear liquid._
   - _Unlike a gas, a liquid keeps a fixed volume even as it changes shape._
7. A consonant sound belonging to a class that includes the sounds 'l' and 'r'.
   - Simple: A smooth consonant sound such as 'l' or 'r'.
   - _Children learning to speak often substitute one liquid for another, saying 'wabbit' for 'rabbit'._
   - _In this dialect the two liquids merge into a single sound._

## Adjective

2. Flowing freely like water: neither solid nor gaseous, made of particles that shift past one another under the slightest pressure.
   - Simple: Able to flow and change shape, not hard like a solid or airy like a gas.
   - _The metal turns liquid only when the furnace reaches a very high temperature._
   - _She poured the liquid resin into the mold and waited for it to set._
3. Having enough trading activity that buying or selling can be carried out easily and quickly.
   - Simple: Easy to buy or sell quickly because many people are trading it.
   - _Major currency pairs stay liquid around the clock because traders worldwide are always active._
   - _The fund holds only liquid securities so it can meet redemptions on short notice._
4. Able to be sold or turned into cash easily and quickly without a drop in value.
   - Simple: Easy to sell quickly without losing its value.
   - _Cash and money-market funds are the most liquid holdings in the portfolio._
   - _Real estate is far less liquid than shares, since selling a house can take months._
5. Moving or sounding in a smooth, flowing way, free of abrupt transitions or harsh tones.
   - Simple: Moving or sounding smoothly, without sudden jumps or harsh sounds.
   - _The cellist drew a liquid tone from the instrument that seemed to pour through the hall._
   - _His prose has a liquid rhythm that glides from sentence to sentence._
6. Having a clear, transparent, watery appearance.
   - Simple: Clear and see-through, like flowing water.
   - _Dawn spread a liquid light across the still surface of the lake._
   - _The gemstone glowed with a liquid transparency under the lamp._
8. Belonging to the class of consonants made up of the laterals and the rhotics, such as l and r, which behave alike in many languages.
   - Simple: Describing consonant sounds like 'l' and 'r', which act alike in many languages.
   - _Japanese has a single liquid consonant where English distinguishes two, l and r._
   - _Phonologists group the liquid consonants 'l' and 'r' with the most vowel-like sounds._

## Origin

From Middle English liquide, from Old French liquide, from Latin liquidus ("fluid, liquid, moist"), from liqueō ("to be liquid, be fluid"). As a term for a type of consonant, it comes from Latin liquida (cōnsōnāns), a calque of Ancient Greek ὑγρὸν (σύμφωνον) ("liquid consonant").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/liquid (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).