-sorbs-

n. The state or quality of being absorbable. Graham (Chemistry). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. absorbable. ] Capable of being absorbed or swallowed up. Kerr. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 wholly absorbed as in thought that engrossed look -- that absorbed and rapt delight
Syn. -- engrossed, intent, rapt, wrapped [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. not allowed to pass through; -- said of radiant waves such as light the absorbed light intensity [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. taken in through the pores of a surface the absorbed water expanded the sponge [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a manner as if wholly engrossed or engaged. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 inducing or promoting absorption
Syn. -- sorbefacient [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Absorptiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Anything which absorbs. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

The ocean, itself a bad absorbent of heat. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) Any substance which absorbs and neutralizes acid fluid in the stomach and bowels, as magnesia, chalk, etc.; also a substance e. g., iodine which acts on the absorbent vessels so as to reduce enlarged and indurated parts. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. (Physiol.) The vessels by which the processes of absorption are carried on, as the lymphatics in animals, the extremities of the roots in plants. AS [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. absorbens, p. pr. of absorbere. ] Absorbing; swallowing; absorptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absorbent ground (Paint.), a ground prepared for a picture, chiefly with distemper, or water colors, by which the oil is absorbed, and a brilliancy is imparted to the colors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, absorbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Swallowing, engrossing; as, an absorbing pursuit. -- Ab*sorb"ing, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Absorption. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. to attract and bind (molecules of a substance in a fluid) so as to form a thin layer on the surface, by non-electrostatic forces; to bind by adsorption. Distinguished from absorb, in which the foreign substance penetrates the body of the absorbing material.
Syn. -- surface assimilation [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ Pref. dis- + orb. ] To throw out of the proper orbit; to unsphere. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. capable of absorbing energy; as, energy-absorbing bumpers reduce injury and damage in vehicle collisions. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Hydro-, 2 + sorbic. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid obtained from sorbic acid when this takes up hydrogen; as, hydrosorbic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. not capable of absorbing or soaking up (liquids). Opposite of absorbent. [ Narrower terms: repellent, resistant ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. lacking capacity to adsorb or cause to accumulate on a surface. Opposite of adsorbent. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To absorb again; to draw in, or imbibe, again what has been effused, extravasated, or thrown off; to swallow up again; as, to reabsorb chyle, lymph, etc.; -- used esp. of fluids. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. reorbere; pref. re- re- + sorbere to suck or drink in. ] 1. To swallow up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now lifted by the tide, and now resorbed. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) to absorb (something which has been secreted or exuded by the same organism). [ PJC ]

a. [ L. resorbens, p. pr. of resorbere. ] Swallowing up. Wodhull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.[ L. sorbus the tree, sorbum the fruit; cf. F. sorbe. See Service tree. ] (Bot.) (a) The wild service tree (Pyrus torminalis) of Europe; also, the rowan tree. (b) The fruit of these trees. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sorb apple, the fruit of the sorb, or wild service tree. --
Sorb tree, the wild service tree. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. sorbate. See Sorbic. ] (Chem.) A salt of sorbic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. sorbere to suck in, absorb + faciens, p. pr. of facere to make. ] (Med.) Producing absorption. -- n. A medicine or substance which produces absorption. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sorbens, p. pr. of sorbere to suck in, to absorb. ] An absorbent. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sorbet or It. sorbetto or Sp. sorbete, from the same source as E. sherbet. See Sherbet. ] A kind of beverage; sherbet. Smolett. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. sorbique. See Sorb. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or obtained from, the rowan tree, or sorb; specifically, designating an acid, C&unr_;H&unr_;CO&unr_;H, of the acetylene series, found in the unripe berries of this tree, and extracted as a white crystalline substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. sorbilis, fr. sorbere to suck in, to drink down. ] Fit to be drunk or sipped. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An unfermentable sugar, isomeric with glucose, found in the ripe berries of the rowan tree, or sorb, and extracted as a sweet white crystalline substance; -- called also mountain-ash sugar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sorbus service tree. ] (Chem.) A sugarlike substance, isomeric with mannite and dulcite, found with sorbin in the ripe berries of the sorb, and extracted as a sirup or a white crystalline substance. -- Sor*bit"ic a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. sorbitio. ] The act of drinking or sipping. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

a. Belonging to the Sorbonne or to a Sorbonist. Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sorboniste. ] A doctor of the Sorbonne, or theological college, in the University of Paris, founded by Robert de Sorbon, a. d. 1252. It was suppressed in the Revolution of 1789. [ 1913 Webster ]