I. ˈlikwə̇d adjective
Etymology: Middle English liquide, from Latin liquidus, from liquēre to be fluid; akin to Latin lixa water, lye, lixivus consisting of lye, Old Irish fliuch damp, Welsh gwlith dew, gwlyb wet
1.
a.
(1) : that is extremely fluid without being gaseous so as to flow freely typically in the manner of water and to have a definite volume without having a definite shape except such as is temporarily given by a container and such as is readily lost (as by an upset or overflow) and that is only slightly compressible and incapable of indefinite expansion in such a way that constituent molecules while moving with extreme ease upon each other do not tend to separate from each other in the manner characteristic of the molecules of gases
water and milk and blood are liquid substances
(2) : watery
sailing over the liquid depths of the seas
b. : brimming with tears
sorrow which made the eyes of many grow liquid
2.
a. : bright and clear to the vision
the liquid air of a spring morning
shining with a liquid luster
b. obsolete : clearly evident : manifest
c. chiefly Scots law
(1) of an account or obligation : undisputed
(2) of a debt : ascertained and constituted against a debtor by a written obligation or by a court decree
3.
a.
(1) : that is smooth and musical in tone : that has a flowing quality entirely free of harshness or discord or abrupt breaks
the liquid song of a robin in the early evening
(2) : that is smooth and unconstrained in movement
the liquid grace of a ballerina
b. of a consonant
(1) : that is frictionless and capable of being prolonged like a vowel (as l, some varieties of r, and in some classifications n, m, ŋ)
(2) : continuant
4. : tending to become altered (as in form or content) : not fixed : not stable
liquid political agreements that were quite without real significance
5. : that is cash or capable of being readily converted into cash
liquid assets
Synonyms:
fluid: liquid implies a flow characteristic of water and implies a substance, as water, with definite volume but no definite form except that given by its container; figuratively, it is opposed to harsh or, sometimes, fixed or rigid
its coal and liquid fuel — Current Biography
liquid soap
the liquid sweetness of the thrush — H.J.Laski
fluid implies flowing of any kind and extends to gases, to highly viscous substances, or to something usually solid but liquefied, as by heating or dissolving; figuratively, it is, more commonly than liquid , opposed to rigid or fixed
the memory of him would become as fluid as water and trickle out of her mind — Ellen Glasgow
a more fluid oil paint on canvas — National Gallery of Art
representatives whose task it should be not to codify and embalm the laws, but to keep them fluid — D.C.Peattie
our moral notions are always fluid — J.E.E.Dalberg-Acton
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French liquide, from Middle French, from liquide, adjective
1. : a liquid substance — compare gas , solid
2. : a liquid consonant