solid
Noun pluralsolids
Pluralsolids
- 1In the firm state of matter, keeping its own shape and able to be held or touched, as opposed to being a liquid, gas, or plasma, whether or not it is hollow inside.
Once the lava cooled, it became a solid mass of rock.
At room temperature, butter stays solid but softens quickly in your hand.
UsageOften after a verb of change: the lake froze solid, the concrete set solid.
- 2
- 3Excellent, high in quality, or thoroughly reliable.
The band put on a solid performance that left fans cheering.
She's a solid teammate you can always count on.
UsageThe praise is often measured: a solid album is good and dependable rather than brilliant.
Similargreat, excellent, strong, reliable, dependable
Oppositepoor, weak, shaky, unreliable
- 4A substance in a fundamental state of matter that keeps its size and shape without needing a container, unlike a liquid or gas.
Mercury is unusual among metals because it stays liquid at room temperature and becomes a solid only in severe cold.
Chemists study how a solid melts into a liquid as it warms.
- 5Having no holes or hollow spaces inside, or made of the same material all the way through rather than plated or filled.
The ring is solid gold, not gold-plated brass like the cheaper copies.
Engineers chose a solid beam over a hollow tube to carry the load.
UsageOften right before a material: solid gold, solid oak.
Oppositehollow
- 6
- 7Worthy of trust, credit, or respect; substantial and not frivolous or mistaken.
His thesis rested on a solid foundation of careful research.
The committee wanted solid reasons before approving the budget.
Similarsound, firm, strong, valid, convincing
Oppositeflimsy, shaky, weak, unsound
Note
Seventeenth-century English already used it for the weighty and serious, as in Milton's "solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer" (1670). Dryden, a few years later, turned it against itself, mocking the "Solid men" who, wanting wit, affect gravity. In plain English, he wrote, such a man is "a solid, solemn Fool." Applied to effort, as in Symonds's "solid toil," it carries no such edge.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Milton used the quoted expression with the sense of firmness and seriousness. tianmu.org
- Milton's quoted work, The History of Britain, was first published in 1670. en.wikipedia.org
- Dryden's mocking passage appeared a few years later, in the dedication to Aureng-zebe, first printed in 1676. gutenberg.org
- Dryden himself wrote the quoted description of supposedly serious men; it is in his dedication, rather than a character's dialogue. gutenberg.org
- John Addington Symonds used solid toil approvingly to describe sustained scholarly effort. gutenberg.org
- 8Having a single color throughout, without pattern or variation.
He prefers solid colors over busy prints.
The flag was once a solid red banner with no markings.
Oppositepatterned, printed, multicolored
- 9Considerable in size, quantity, or value.
The investment returned a solid profit this quarter.
He gained a solid lead in the early polls.
Similarsubstantial, considerable, sizable
- 10Food that is not liquid-based, as distinct from drinks and other liquid nourishment.
Doctors advised her to avoid solids until the nausea passed.
Most pediatricians suggest introducing solids once an infant can sit up without help.
UsageUsed as solids with no article: start a baby on solids, avoid solids for a day.
Oppositeliquid
- 11Entire and complete, with no break or interruption throughout.
He worked a solid eight hours before taking any rest.
They argued for a solid hour before reaching any agreement.
UsageOften before a stretch of time: a solid hour, a solid eight hours.
Similarfull, whole, entire, uninterrupted
Note
Time is where the Latin sense of "whole," traced under the physical sense, shows most clearly: a solid hour is an hour with nothing taken out. Matthew Prior's soldier loses "the solid day" to drink and game.
- 12A three-dimensional figure, having volume rather than only a surface, an area, or a curve.
Geometry students calculate the volume of each solid in the set.
A sphere is a solid with no edges or vertices.
Note
In geometry the contrast is about dimensions rather than matter. A solid has volume, where a surface or an area has two dimensions and a curve has one. Spheres and cubes are solids whether or not anything is made of them. Older writers used the dated "cubic" adjective for the same idea, as in solid figures.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 7 facts
- Geometrical solids are defined by dimensions rather than material composition. math.clarku.edu
- A geometrical solid has volume. math.clarku.edu
- A surface is two-dimensional and can be flat or curved. math.clarku.edu
- A curve is a line, understood broadly enough to include curved lines. math.clarku.edu
- Spheres, understood as solid spheres, are geometrical solids independently of physical realization. en.wikisource.org
- Cubes are geometrical solids independently of physical realization. math.clarku.edu
- Solid has a dated adjective sense meaning geometrically three-dimensional or cubic, exemplified by solid figures. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 13An act of kindness or help done for someone as an informal favor.
She owed him a solid after he helped her move apartments.
Do me a solid and grab my keys on your way out.
UsageLives mostly in two phrases: do someone a solid and owe someone a solid.
Similarfavor, kindness, service
Note
Loren D. Estleman's Frames (2008) has a character whom Francis Ford Coppola owes a solid. Robert Cea's No Lights, No Sirens (2005) has a cop counting the people who "still owe me a solid or two."
- 14Continuous and unbroken, not formed of dots or dashes.
A solid line on the map marks the main highway.
Use a solid border around the chart instead of a dashed one.
Similarcontinuous, unbroken
- 15Financially sound and secure, able to meet its debts and obligations.
The family was solid, with no debts and money in the bank.
Investors want to know whether the insurer is solid enough to pay every claim if a major storm hits.
Similarsolvent, secure, comfortable, prosperous, well-off
- 16Describing rain or anything else that falls or comes in a stream as heavy and continuing without a break.
The forecast promised sunshine, but we got a whole weekend of solid rain and never left the cabin.
The hikers faced solid sleet for the entire climb.
Similarcontinuous, steady, relentless, constant
Oppositeintermittent, sporadic
- 17Hearty and filling, leaving you well fed.
A solid meal of stew and bread warmed the travelers.
The farmers wanted a solid lunch before the long afternoon.
Similarhearty, filling, substantial, square, satisfying
- 18Used after a verb or time expression to mean firmly, completely, or continuously without interruption, as in 'frozen solid' or 'two hours solid'.
It rained solid for three days straight.
Her calendar has been booked solid all month.
UsageUsually comes after the verb: booked solid, rained solid. Elsewhere solidly is usually the better choice.
Similarcontinuously, nonstop, fully, completely, straight
Oppositeintermittently, sporadically
Note
Mark Twain's miners wait till the ledge "comes in solid." A separate idiom, in solid, means firmly in someone's favor, as in "put me in more solid than ever." It echoes the dated "friendly with" sense.
- 19United and in full agreement; acting together as one.
The party presented a solid front against the proposal.
Every senator in the party voted for the bill, a solid bloc that the other side could not break.
UsageOften in a solid front, a solid bloc, or stand solid behind someone.
- 20A garment that is a single color throughout, with no patterns or prints.
The designer showed several solids alongside the floral prints.
Stylists often suggest pairing a bold floral skirt with a simple solid, so the pattern stays the focus.
Oppositeprint
- 21Of a compound word, written as one word with no space or hyphen between its parts, as 'notebook' is.
Over time, many hyphenated compounds become solid.
Many compounds are written as two words at first and only later become solid, as 'website' did.
Similarclosed
Oppositeopen, hyphenated
Note
An editor's term for one of three ways to write a compound: open (data base), hyphenated (data-base) or solid (database). Closed and closed up mean the same thing. Compounds tend to drift toward this form as they settle in. American English writes many words solid that British English hyphenates. The adverb carries the same idea in "set solid."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Compounds have three written forms: open, hyphenated and solid. tac.nist.gov
- Closed and closed up are synonyms of solid in this sense. en.wiktionary.org
- Compounds tend to become single words as they become established. en.wikipedia.org
- 22In a single unbroken word, with no spaces or hyphens between the parts.
Set the compound solid unless the style guide says otherwise.
Modern usage often spells the term solid.
- 23Having all three geometrical dimensions; cubic, as in measures expressed by volume.
"What have plane figures to do with solid orbits? Solid bodies ought to be used for solid orbits."
1841, David Brewster, The Martyrs of ScienceA solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches.
Similarcubic
Note
An older way of saying cubic: a solid foot contains 1,728 solid inches, where today one would write cubic foot and cubic inches. Charles Knight's English Cyclopaedia, issued around 1860, sets "superficial or solid figures" side by side, superficial standing for area.
- 24Closely allied or on friendly terms with someone; in someone's favor.
I wanted to get solid with him for a time while he lived, but I believe he might have been worked into Paradise with half the scheming that was necessary before he deigned to look favorably upon me.
1895, Outing[Image of a man labelled 'League of Nations' pointing to a picture of a woman labelled 'Democracy Wilson'.] "If I can only get solid with her I stand a chance in this peace game." - The Passing Show (London).
1919, Literary Digest: a Repository of Contemporaneous Thought and Research as Presented in the Periodical Literature of the WorldSimilarclose, tight, friendly, thick
Note
A word for standing in someone's good graces, usually in a set phrase: to get solid with someone, or to make oneself solid with them. It often hints at strategy, at winning over someone useful, as when travelers in George Kennan's Siberia and the Exile System (1891) make themselves "solid with the administration."
He spent the first week trying to get solid with the foreman.
They made themselves solid with the local officials before asking any favors.
- 25Of type, set without extra spacing between the lines; not leaded or opened up.
The dense paragraph was set solid to save space.
Older books often used solid composition with little room between lines.
Oppositeleaded
Note
A letterpress term from the age of metal type, when strips called leads were slipped between lines to open them up. Type set solid had none, so each line sat directly on the next, dense and economical. Leaded or open type is the contrast. Do not confuse it with the spelling adverb, which concerns spaces between words, not between lines.
- 26Measured as one continuous mass, with the volumes of the separate pieces added together and no gaps counted.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Latin solidus ("solid") passed into Old French as solide and was borrowed from there into Middle English, also as solide. Further back it rests on a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "whole" or "entire."
This use came into Middle English as solid, either from the adjective itself or from Middle French solide or Latin solidum.