Solid

Solid

Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). It is characterized by structural rigidity and resistance to changes of shape or volume. Unlike a liquid, a solid object does not flow to take on the shape of its container, nor does it expand to fill the entire volume available to it like a gas does. The atoms in a solid are tightly bound to each other, either in a regular geometric lattice (crystalline solids, which include metals and ordinary water ice) or irregularly (an amorphous solid such as common window glass).

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Famous quotes containing the word solid:

    London ... remains a man’s city where New York is chiefly a woman’s. London has whole streets that cater to men’s wants. It has its great solid phalanx of fortress clubs.
    Louis Kronenberger (1904–1980)

    Let us not play at kittly-benders. There is a solid bottom everywhere.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    It is a sign of our times, conspicuous to the coarsest observer, that many intelligent and religious persons withdraw themselves from the common labors and competitions of the market and the caucus, and betake themselves to a certain solitary and critical way of living, from which no solid fruit has yet appeared to justify their separation.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)