I. sol ‧ id 1 S3 W3 /ˈsɒləd, ˈsɒlɪd $ ˈsɑː-/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ solid , ↑ solidarity , ↑ solidity , solids, ↑ solidification ; verb : ↑ solidify ; adverb : ↑ solidly ; adjective : ↑ solid ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: solide , from Latin solidus ]
1 . FIRM/HARD hard or firm, with a fixed shape, and not a liquid or gas:
The lake was frozen solid.
It was good to be back on solid ground again.
Is the baby eating solid food (=bread, meat etc) yet?
The ship’s sonar can detect the presence of solid objects in the water.
2 . ONLY ONE MATERIAL consisting completely of one type of material
solid gold/silver etc
a solid gold cup
solid wood/pine/oak etc
a chest made of solid oak
3 . NOT HOLLOW having no holes or spaces inside OPP hollow :
a solid rubber ball
a shrine carved out of solid rock
4 . WITHOUT SPACES continuous, without any spaces or breaks:
It’s not safe to pass when the lines in the middle of the road are solid.
5 . STRONGLY MADE strong and well made OPP flimsy :
a solid piece of furniture
The frame is as solid as a rock (=extremely solid) .
6 . GOOD AND LONG-LASTING a solid achievement or solid work is of real, practical, and continuing value:
five years of solid achievement
The first two years provide a solid foundation in the basics of computing.
7 . DEPENDABLE someone or something that is solid can be depended on or trusted SYN sound :
a solid reputation
The prosecution in this case has no solid evidence.
You can rely on Wylie for good solid advice.
a solid Labour stronghold (=where people always vote for this party)
8 . CONTINUING WITHOUT INTERRUPTION informal used to emphasize that something continues for a long time without any pauses:
The lecture lasted two solid hours.
five hours/two weeks etc solid
On Saturday I went to bed and slept fourteen hours solid.
9 . packed solid informal if shops, trains, buses etc are packed solid, they are full of people
10 . on solid ground confident because you are dealing with a subject you are sure about, or because you are in a safe situation:
To make sure that he was on solid ground, he confirmed his findings with others.
11 . GOOD British English informal good
12 . DIFFICULT British English informal very difficult:
I couldn’t do any of the maths last night – it was solid.
13 . SHAPE technical having length, width, and height SYN three-dimensional :
A sphere is a solid figure.
14 . IN AGREEMENT be solid British English to be in complete agreement:
The workers are 100% solid on this issue.
—solidly adverb :
solidly built
—solidness noun [uncountable]
II. solid 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ solid , ↑ solidarity , ↑ solidity , solids, ↑ solidification ; verb : ↑ solidify ; adverb : ↑ solidly ; adjective : ↑ solid ]
1 . [countable] a firm object or substance that has a fixed shape, not a gas or liquid:
the properties of liquids and solids
2 . solids [plural] foods that are not liquid:
He’s still too ill to eat solids.
3 . [countable] technical the part of a liquid which has the qualities of a solid when it is separated from the ↑ solvent (=watery part)
4 . [countable] technical a shape which has length, width, and height, such as a ↑ sphere or ↑ cylinder ⇨ plane