osmoticadj.

1854 T. Graham in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 144 177 On Osmotic Force. The expression ‘Osmotic Force’ (from ὠσμὸς, impulsio) has reference to the endosmose and exosmose of Dutrochet.

1854 T. Graham in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 144 181 Substances of small osmotic power.

1862 H. Spencer First Princ. i. iv. §23. 72 The absorption of nutrient fluids through the coats of the intestines, is an instance of osmotic action.

1901 Weekly Epitome Current Med. Lit. 5 Jan. 1/2 The clinical value of kryoscopy, that is estimation of the osmotic tendency of fluids by means of freezing.

1951 H. Davson Textbk. Gen. Physiol. vii. 158 In isotonic glycerol solution the cell is unstable because no osmotic equilibrium is possible.

1989 Jrnl. Exper. Bot. 40 1063/1 During this phase, the leaf is in a state of equilibrium, resulting from restoration of osmotic balance in the pulvinar motor tissue.

1999 Printing World 7 June 20/4 Getting rid of the chlorine is an important aspect of the pretreatment as chlorine will damage the osmotic membrane.

1907 C. F. Birdseye Individual Training in our Colleges xxvi. 201 We thus live in two atmospheres, one of which environs us in a larger way, while the other, continuous, enfolding, intimate, osmotic, is that which makes us what we really are.

1917 W. Durant Philos. & Social Probl. ii. 38 He [sc. Plato] passed down through Palestine even to India, absorbing the culture of their peoples with a kind of osmotic genius.

1952 W. D. Jacobs William Barnes, Linguist i. 10 There is also the strong and numberless clan which utilizes all the latinic iridescence at its command..to rejoice that the language had such osmotic good fortune.

1965 Economist 24 Apr. 451/2 In the osmotic way these things happen, virtually all of them [sc. workers] were absorbed by other local industries.

1975 B. Garfield Hopscotch xxii. 236 The joy she took from flying..in some profound osmotic way..had communicated itself to him.

1998 W. N. Herbert Laurelude 133 Trying to become Irish by osmotic consumption of Guinness and Muldoon.

1888 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 54 778 (heading) Osmotic pressure in the analogy between solutions and gases.

1930 Proc. Royal Soc. 1929–30 B. 105 566 All solutions were adjusted so that the osmotic pressure was equal to that of sea water.

1970 E. J. Ambrose & D. M. Easty Cell Biol. ii. 83 A solution containing one gramme-molecule of non-ionizable solute in 22.4 litres exerts an osmotic pressure of 1 atmosphere at 0°C.

1992 Joiners' Q. No. 33. 31/1 It becomes even more difficult for the root system to develop the osmotic pressure required to maintain the transfers between roots and crown.

1950 T. F. Anderson in Jrnl. Appl. Physics 21 70/1 The similar viruses, T2, T4, and T6 which appear in the electron microscope to have membranes surrounding the internal structures of the heads can be disintegrated by what might be termed ‘osmotic shock’... Presumably, the virus heads swell when the osmotic pressure is suddenly reduced, and actually burst if the reduction is sufficiently large and sudden.

1973 D. A. Anderson Introd. Microbiol. x. 110/1 The cells of many bacteria..are likely to burst when placed in distilled water. This method (osmotic shock) is often used to release components from inside the cell for biochemical analysis.

1990 BioFactors 2 136/1 After removal of their perigranular membrane by osmotic shock, purified granules can still generate membrane vesicles from the granule matrix.