reverse osmosis

reverse osmosis n. A process by which a solvent such as water is purified of solutes by being forced through a semipermeable membrane through which the solvent, but not the solutes, may pass.

reverse osmosis

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reverse osmosis

n

(Engineering / Chemical Engineering) a technique for purifying water, in which pressure is applied to force liquid through a semipermeable membrane in the opposite direction to that in normal osmosis

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reverse osmosis A method of producing pure water by forcing saline or impure water through a semipermeable membrane across which salts or impurities cannot pass. Reverse osmosis is used for water filtration, for desalinization of seawater, and in kidney dialysis machines.

reverse osmosis

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

reverse osmosis - (chemistry) a method of producing pure water; a solvent passes through a semipermeable membrane in a direction opposite to that for natural osmosis when it is subjected to a hydrostatic pressure greater than the osmotic pressure chemical science, chemistry - the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions osmosis - (biology, chemistry) diffusion of molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal