saturate
saturate Lexical Profile
saturate Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To cause a substance or material to become thoroughly soaked with liquid so that no more can be absorbed.
"Heavy autumn rains began to saturate the soil across the valley."
To fill a market, medium, or environment completely with something until no more can be accommodated or absorbed.
"Competing electronics manufacturers quickly moved to saturate the market with affordable tablets."
To cause a chemical solution, vapor, or organic compound to unite with the greatest possible amount of another substance or to have all available valence bonds filled (in chemistry and physics).
"The laboratory technician continued to add salt to saturate the aqueous solution at room temperature."
• adjective
Of a color, having high purity and intensity, free from any admixture of white or gray.
"The artist favored a rich, saturate crimson for the central figures of the mural."
Soaked thoroughly with liquid or filled completely to capacity (now chiefly poetic or literary).
"The travelers trudged across the saturate moorland after days of relentless rain."
• Rhymes for saturate
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the 16th century from Latin saturatus, the past participle of saturare ('to fill full, glut, or satisfy'), derived from satur ('full of food, sated'), sharing an Indo-European root with 'satisfy' and 'satiate'.