Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or containing salt; salty.
  • adjective Of or relating to chemical salts.
  • noun A salt of magnesium or of the alkalis, used in medicine as a cathartic.
  • noun A saline solution, especially one that is isotonic with blood and is used in medicine and surgery.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Consisting of salt or constituting salt: as, saline particles; saline substances.
  • Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of salt; salty: as, a saline taste.
  • noun A salt-spring, or a place where salt water is collected in the earth; a salt-marsh or -pit.
  • Same as halophilous.
  • noun One of the mineral salts, such as sodium or magnesium sulphate, used medicinally.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A salt spring; a place where salt water is collected in the earth.
  • adjective Consisting of salt, or containing salt.
  • adjective Of the quality of salt; salty.
  • noun (Chem.) A crude potash obtained from beet-root residues and other similar sources.
  • noun (Med. Chem.) A metallic salt; esp., a salt of potassium, sodium, lithium, or magnesium, used in medicine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Containing salt; salty.
  • noun Water containing dissolved salt.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective containing salt
  • noun an isotonic solution of sodium chloride and distilled water

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin salīnus, from sāl, salt; see sal- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • Homeowners, too, have been making the switch to saline, which is about one-twelfth as salty as ocean water.

    Worth Their Salt? Pools Where Chlorine Isn't King Shalini Ramachandran 2011

  • These breast implants are available in a wide variety of shapes, types and sizes, and usually they will be made of an outer layer of silicone, and then are filled with either silicone gel or saline, which is salt water.

    MyLinkVault Newest Links 2009

  • The Etosha Pan is almost devoid of macrophytic vegetation and is classified as a saline desert.

    Etosha Pan halophytics 2007

  • Before entering into a discussion of the question, which naturally arises at this point, as to how levity and gravity by their two possible ways of interaction - 'sulphurous' or 'saline' - determine the properties of so-called positive and negative electricity, we shall first study the third mode of generating electricity, namely, by electromagnetic induction.

    Man or Matter Ernst Lehrs

  • The release of Miss Leighton has refocused attention on the daunting scale of the task facing police if they are to catch the person dubbed the 'saline serial killer'.

    Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011

  • After removing the radiation plaque from the treated eye, she flushes the oil away with saline, which is eventually replaced by the patient's natural fluids.

    Newswise: Latest News 2010

  • Mr Salmond said that Scotland is well placed to lead the world in the technology because of its geological assets - mainly former oil and gas fields and an abundance of porous rock, known as saline aquifer.

    unknown title 2009

  • Mr Salmond said that Scotland is well placed to lead the world in the technology because of its geological assets - mainly former oil and gas fields and an abundance of porous rock, known as saline aquifer.

    unknown title 2009

  • Winner receives copies of my books, copies of Patrick Smith's book, an empty 12-ounce bottle labeled "saline" that you can refill and get through any TSA security checkpoint, and a fake boarding pass on any flight for any date.

    Schneier Having TSA Logo Contest - UFies.org 2010

  • Winner receives copies of my books, copies of Patrick Smith's book, an empty 12-ounce bottle labeled "saline" that you can refill and get through any TSA security checkpoint, and a fake boarding pass on any flight for any date.

    UFies.org: January 2010 Archives 2010

Comments

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  • Moist saline lids.

    Hands slipped from mine.

    - Peter Reading, Us in The Ship, from The Prison Cell and Barrel Mystery, 1976

    June 23, 2008