I. ˈsachəˌrāt, usu -ād.+V transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare to fill, saturate, from satur full of food, satiated — more at sad
1. : to cloy with overabundance : sate , surfeit
a surfeit of war and massive injustice have saturated our capacity for moral indignation — John Barkham
2. : to satisfy the affinity of (a substance) : cause to combine till there is no further tendency to combine : neutralize
saturate an acid with an alkali
3.
a. : to infuse thoroughly or cause to be pervaded : soak , steep
saturate a sponge with water
the whole house was saturated with the aroma — Ellen Glasgow
moonglow … saturates an empty sky — Henry Miller
b. : to fill completely : imbue
the novel … is saturated with individualism and liberal culture — V.S.Pritchett
this little town with its giant elms is saturated with … traditions — E.A.Weeks
literary men saturate themselves in attitudes that have become irrelevant — H.J.Muller
c. : to load to capacity : crowd , deluge
jet operations already saturate all air space between 20,000 ft. and 40,000 ft. — Time
the two-million dollar … campaign, which saturated radio and television for two weeks before election day — Robert Bendiner
specifically : to furnish to an amount which meets present and prospective demands at current prices
believed that 8000 machines … would about saturate the market — Bryan Morgan
d.
(1) : to overwhelm (an air defense system) by sending in so many airplanes in a unit of time that detecting and tracking equipment becomes erratic
(2) : to blanket (a target area) with bombs or projectiles to the point of utter destruction
4.
a. : to impregnate with a vapor to the maximum degree possible at the existing temperature and pressure
saturate air with water vapor
b. : to dissolve in (a solvent) as much of a solute as can be held in solution at the existing temperature and pressure
c. : to magnetize (a substance) until further increase of magnetizing force produces no increase in magnetization
d. : to increase the voltage on (a vacuum tube or other device) until further voltage increase produces no change in current
Synonyms: see permeate
II. ˈsach(ə)rə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V adjective
Etymology: Latin saturatus, past participle of saturare to saturate
: saturated
seaweed can loll in the water, buoyed by it and even saturate with it — D.C.Peattie
words … have become enriched by many associations, saturate with many colors — Havelock Ellis
a saturate solution of silver
III. noun
( -s )
: a saturated chemical compound