| 释义 |
‖ meniscus|mɪˈnɪskəs|
Pl. menisci |mɪˈnɪsaɪ|; also 8 meniscusses.
[mod.L., a. Gr. µηνίσκος crescent, dim. of µήνη moon.]
A crescent-shaped body.
1. A crescent moon. rare.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Meniscus, a little Moon. 1881Miss A. D. Kingston tr. J. Verne's Tigers & Traitors v. 89 Thus the meniscus..shed a few faint beams after midnight.
2. A lens convex on one side and concave on the other; properly, the convexo-concave form (i.e. the one which is thickest in the middle, and thus has a crescent-shaped section), but often applied also to the concavo-convex, the two being sometimes distinguished as converging and diverging meniscus respectively.
1693E. Halley in Phil. Trans. XVII. 969 In a Meniscus the Concave side towards the Object encreases the focal length, but the Convex towards the Object diminishes it. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. II. xiv. 85 Infinitely thin meniscusses do not sensibly change the course of the rays of light. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight vii. 99 The periscopic glass is what opticians call a meniscus. One surface is convex and the other concave, according as one or the other of these surfaces has the sharper curvature.
3. The convex or concave upper surface of a liquid column, caused by capillarity.
1812–16Playfair Nat. Phil. (1819) I. 189 The little meniscus of water..which terminates the column. 1883W. H. Richards Text Bk. Milit. Topogr. 218 The ‘meniscus’ should be decidedly rounded; if it appears flat the barometer should be tapped [etc.].
4. Math. A figure of the form of a crescent.
1885Watson & Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 117 Instead of the figure formed by the two external segments, we may take..the meniscus formed by one internal and one external segment.
5. Anat. A disk-like interarticular fibrocartilage situated in the interior of some joints to adapt the articular surfaces to each other, as in the wrist- and knee-joints.
1830R. Knox Béclard's Anat. 239 The menisci, or interarticular ligaments. 1877Burnett Ear 74 The articulation between the malleus and incus is a true joint, in which is found a meniscus.
6. An organ of doubtful function in Echinorhyncus, a genus of acanthocephalous entozoa.
1877Huxley Anat. Invert. Anim. 647.
7. attrib. and Comb., as meniscus form, meniscus glass, meniscus lens; meniscus-shaped adj.
1787tr. Linnæus' Fam. Plants I. 70 Seeds..*meniscus-form. 1878Abney Photogr. (1881) 203 All single lenses..have the meniscus form given to them.
1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, *Meniscus Glasses are those which are Convex on one side, and Concave on the other.
1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. 203 A lens may be convex on one side and concave on the other,..called a *meniscus lens.
1851–6Woodward Mollusca 74 Specimens frequently occur in the lias, with the *meniscus-shaped casts of the air-chambers loose, like a pile of watch-glasses. |