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incompressible

incompressible

1 7.7
Does not become smaller when you press it
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪnkəmˈprɛsəbl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : incompresible
  • The fact that the deformations are "virtually incompressible" is relevant because it means that different analytical methods must be used.
  • incompressible fluid
  • incompressible liquid
  • incompressible material

Examples

  • We're going to assume that this is shock free, largely incompressible flow for the purposes of Unified.

  • And I'm going to show you that this, in contrast to air, is completely incompressible or inelastic.

  • So if you have an incompressible fluid flow.

  • This was a serious problem because the fuel was incompressible and being the start of the flight, the tanks were full.

  • And that flow is incompressible, but let's let's first define the flow.

  • An additional complexity of bulk soft tissue is that it is believed to behave as a nearly incompressible material.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Water is incompressible.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • In this study, the melted material flow is assumed to be incompressible laminar flow.

    Academic text (2018)
  • In the fractional quantum Hall regime, however, the two-dimensional electron gas is an incompressible quantum fluid.

    Academic text (1994)
  • In physics, we often refer to water as an incompressible fluid because it does not change volume under pressure.

Synonyms

noncompressible
vsincompressible
  • Specialized
7.4

Cannot be made smaller by pressure, like water

emphasizes resisting being squeezed rather than absolute inability to lose volume

Antonyms

compressible
  • Specialized
1 6.2

Can become smaller in volume when you press it

How Compressible

compressible
  • Specialized
1 6.2
incompressible
  • Specialized
1 7.7

Surface Forms

incompressible positive

Morphology

incompressible = compressible (transparent) = in + compress + ible

The meaning is a regular negation of 'compressible', giving 'not capable of being compressed'.

Etymology

Incompressible breaks into in- meaning 'not' and compress meaning 'press together', so it literally means 'not able to be pressed smaller'. Think of water or a hard metal that you cannot squish even under strong pressure, and that's why an incompressible material resists being made smaller.