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capillary tubing

capillary tubing

5.6
A very thin tube that pulls liquid inside to move small amounts
  • noun
  • /ˈkæpɪˌlɛri ˈtjuːbɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tubería capilar
  • In the experiment, the dye traveled along the capillary tubing due to capillary action.

Examples

  • For precise measurements, it is important to use capillary tubing with a small internal diameter.

  • The scientist used capillary tubing to transfer the liquid samples without any spills.

  • And so drivers do have these shirts, they're called cool shirts, very descriptive name that are just capillary tubes sewn onto a shirt.

  • Micropipette glass electrodes used were pulled from 1.5-mm capillary tubing, filled with 3.6% NaCl, and were used for recording.

    Academic text (2016)

Synonyms

tubing
vscapillary tubing
22 2.7

A long hollow pipe that carries liquids, gases, or small objects

is much narrower and moves liquid by surface attraction rather than by general flow
capillary
vscapillary tubing
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A very thin tube used to hold or move small amounts of liquid

focuses on the small internal diameter used to move or transfer liquid
capillary tube
vscapillary tubing
  • Specialized
4.6

A very thin tube that makes liquid climb inside it without a pump

is the same concept but expressed with a different word form

How Thin

capillary tubing
  • Specialized
5.6
tube
680 2.0
to pipe
  • Specialized
21 3.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

capillary + tubing

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'capillary' (a very thin tube that moves liquid by capillary action) + 'tubing' (hollow conduit for liquids), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to very thin tubing used for capillary action. This noun‑noun compounding follows standard, cross‑linguistically common composition patterns and therefore is immediately comprehensible to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Capillary tubing: The name capillary tubing comes from capillary, meaning 'hair-like', and tubing, meaning small tubes. In very thin tubes, liquid can climb up inside by a natural pull between the liquid and the tube, so the term means 'very thin tubes used to move or hold small amounts of liquid'.