Definitions

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

  • noun The act or process of making or becoming thick.
  • noun Material used to thicken.
  • noun A thickened part.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act or process of making or becoming thick.
  • noun A substance used in making thick; specifically, in dyeing and calico-printing, same as thickener.
  • noun That which has become thick.

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

  • noun Something put into a liquid or mass to make it thicker.

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

  • noun the process of making something, or becoming, thick or viscous
  • noun a substance, usually a source of starch, used to thicken a sauce
  • noun a thickened part of a structure
  • verb Simple past tense and past participle of thicken.

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

  • adjective accumulating and becoming more intense
  • noun the act of thickening
  • noun any thickened enlargement
  • adjective becoming more intricate or complex
  • noun any material used to thicken

Etymologies

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Examples

  • • Use sweet rice flour to replace the traditional wheat flour in thickening gravy.

    A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Steve Carper 2008

  • Little Wolf-Willow's head was whirling, his brain thickening, his fingers clutching aimlessly.

    The Shagganappi 1913

  • A group of Canadian officials is calling for the appointment of special ambassadors on both sides of the border to help deal with what they call the thickening of international crossings.

    Paul & Matt's Sports Attack 2009

  • 21Blau had previously acknowledged the role of the photographic giant Ilford in thickening emulsion layers on the photographic plates to make the entire particle tracks visible.

    Trafficking Materials and Gendered Experimental Practices: Radium Research in Early 20th Century Vienna 2007

  • BRODSKY: ... mild mitral valve thickening, which is a heart defect.

    CNN Transcript Feb 21, 2008 2008

  • To that end, I specifically raise concerns about the so-called thickening of the Canada-U.S. border.

    CNN Transcript Apr 22, 2008 2008

  • As with all fermented milks, the thickening is an indication that the product has reached a certain acidity 0.8%, pH 4.6 and so a distinct tartness.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • As with all fermented milks, the thickening is an indication that the product has reached a certain acidity 0.8%, pH 4.6 and so a distinct tartness.

    On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Harold McGee 2004

  • Hence aqueous bodies do not thicken when they solidify; for thickening occurs when the moisture goes off and the dry matter comes together, but water is the only liquid that does not thicken.

    Meteorology 2002

  • Recently, there has been much publicity suggesting that breast implants made of silicone gel may trigger autoimmune diseases in women, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma, a connective tissue disease characterized by the thickening of the skin.

    THE LUPUS HANDBOOK FOR WOMEN ROBIN DIBNER 1994

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