Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An ion or group of ions having a positive charge and characteristically moving toward the negative electrode in electrolysis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) a positively charged atom, radical, or molecule, which in electrolysis migrates to the cathode; a positive ion; -- opposed to anion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry A positively charged ion—opposed to anion.
  • noun chemistry The ion in an electrolyzed solution that migrates to the cathode.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a positively charged ion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek kation, something going down, from neuter present participle of katienai, to go down : kat-, kata-, cata- + ienai, to go; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • The recession has been among us for long enough now that the "stay-cation" is no longer a novel concept.

    NY Weekend Getaway...Or Not: Tell Us The Huffington Post News Team 2009

  • As a result, the iron cation is released, but the apo-transferrin, which has high affinity for the receptor at acidic pH, remains bound strongly.

    Aaron Ciechanover - Autobiography 2005

  • In the words of soil science, this functioning like a storage battery for minerals is called cation exchange capacity.

    Organic Gardener's Composting Steve Solomon

  • Any element with a positive charge is called a cation and, for agricultural purposes, it refers to the basic cations, calcium (Ca+2), magnesium (Mg+2), potassium (K+1) and sodium (Na+1) and the acidic cations, hydrogen (H+1) and aluminum (Al+3).

    Southeast Farm Press RSS Feed 2010

  • Groundwater interactions with surface-water systems greatly influence water quality characteristics such as cation, anion, nutrient, and dissolved organic matter concentrations, and even the fate and behavior of toxic pollutants.

    Freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic 2009

  • If you cant figure out the area of a triangle or what "cation" means, you die! if you cant take down a demon w/a chainsaw or kill a hell prince w/a shotgun, you die! f--- ing snotty rich f--- heads.

    'Columbine: A True Crime Story' 2009

  • LOOK at the image title at the top that frontpage sends you to - it says "cation" which means it is an ABSTRACT with some info from the certifiCATE.

    Lone Star Times 2009

  • And so it was with me during my "work-cation," when I spent the dog days thinking about how to make better virtual meetings -- the kind of meetings many employees experience when they're working remotely or enjoying a holiday.

    How To Make Virtual Meetings Better Boland T. Jones 2010

  • A new word, 'stay-cation' entered the tourism industry vocabulary last year.

    Page 2 2010

  • A new word, 'stay-cation' entered the tourism industry vocabulary last year.

    Page 2 2010

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