saturate
verb /ˈsatʃəreɪt 
/ [with object]
/ [with object]1Cause (something) to become thoroughly soaked with water or other liquid so that no more can be absorbed: the soil is saturated...
- She grabbed a towel by the sink and turned on the cold water, saturating the towel thoroughly.
- As the frigid water saturates his jacket and pants, his first instinct is to let out a loud gasp.
- When using a spray hose, spray low and hold it closely against your pet's coat so water saturates the coat and skin.
Synonyms
soak, drench, waterlog, wet through, wet;
souse, steep, douse, impregnate
technical ret
Scottish & Northern English drouk
archaic sop
1.1Cause (a substance) to combine with, dissolve, or hold the greatest possible quantity of another substance: the groundwater is saturated with calcium hydroxide...
- Eventually, the surface of the activated charcoal will be saturated with absorbed pollutants and no further purification will occur.
- The liqueur is saturated with sugar, so I expected the viscosity to be high, but it also contains 43% alcohol.
- To be fully active, osteocalcin must be saturated with carboxyl groups, and that's vitamin K's job.
1.2Magnetize or charge (a substance or device) fully.
1.3 Electronics Put (a device) into a state in which no further increase in current is achievable.
1.4Fill (something or someone) with something until no more can be held or absorbed: the air is saturated with the smells of food...
- Gran opens one of the containers and immediately the dog's nostrils are saturated with a powerful chemical smell.
- After 45 solid minutes I was totally saturated with information and all sorts of flashing images.
- Recently, the popular music sector was saturated with boy bands, girl groups and choreographed vocalists in the wake of the fall of grunge.
Synonyms
permeate, impregnate, suffuse, imbue, pervade, steep, charge, infuse, inform, fill, spread throughout
1.5Supply (a market) beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied: Japan’s electronics industry began to saturate the world markets...
- It's the nature of business to take a profitable idea and exploit it until the market is utterly saturated with similar product and demand dries up as a result.
- With 508 stores in the U.S. and 114 in Canada, the company is perilously close to saturating the market.
- For instance, the company built on its early success by saturating a local market with multiple locations.
Synonyms
flood, glut, swamp, oversupply, overfill, overload
1.6Overwhelm (an enemy target area) by concentrated bombing.The grenades burst out from the warhead at 150m from the target, saturating a large area with deadly explosive power....
- The target area would be saturated, that was certain, but Erik doubted whether it would work or not.
noun /ˈsatʃərət / (usually saturates)
/ (usually saturates)A saturated fat: as far as the heart is concerned saturates are considered the main enemy...
- Biscuits, buns, cakes and pastries, puddings, and ice cream could be taxed if they raised cholesterol concentrations but exempt if the ratio of polyunsaturates to saturates were more favourable.
- For a lot of women, the last thing in the world they need to do is lower their HDL, so an appropriate blend of fat would include some saturates.
- According to the manufacturer, a 34.5g bag of salt and vinegar crisps contains 11.4g of fat, of which 5.2g are the more harmful saturates.
adjective /ˈsatʃərət / literary
/ literarySaturated with moisture.
Derivatives
saturable
/ adjective (technical) ...- Ceftriaxone is highly protein bound; however, this process is saturable.
- Relay through titratable sites is characterized by protons binding to titratable sites, which may lead to saturable pH-dependent conductance.
- Since the uptake of aminoglycosides into renal tubular cells is a saturable process, larger doses would not be expected to be any more nephrotoxic than smaller doses.
saturant
Origin
Late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense 'satisfied'): from Latin saturat- 'filled, glutted', from the verb saturare, from satur 'full'. The early sense of the verb (mid 16th century) was 'satisfy'; the noun dates from the 1950s.