Ablative

/ˈæb.lə.tɪv/ · adjective

Meaning

(grammar) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement..

Definitions by Sense

1. (grammar) Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement.
2. (archaic) Pertaining to taking away or removing.
3. (engineering, nautical, astronautics) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. .
4. (medicine) Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ.
5. (geology) Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier.
6. (grammar) The ablative case.
7. An ablative material.

Example Sentences

Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth.

The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to "boil away" when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.

Synonyms for ablative

Antonyms for ablative

Related Words

Word Forms

• abl.
• Abl.
• ablatives

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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