viscosity

/ˈvɪsˌkɑsədi/

/vɪsˈkɒsɪti/

Other forms: viscosities

Viscosity is the thickness of a liquid. Water flows easily. Honey does not — that's why it has greater viscosity than water.

Viscosity, pronounced "vis-KOSS-ih-tee," tells you how sticky a liquid is. In the working of machines and car engines, viscosity is important. Thick oils and lubricants that have high viscosity, meaning they coat and cling, keep hard metal parts from wearing down as they rub together. Oils with dense viscosity keep machine parts from having too much friction and burning out.

Definitions of viscosity

1. noun

   resistance of a liquid to shear forces (and hence to flow)
   synonyms: viscousness

   types:

   stickiness

   the property of sticking to a surface

   sliminess

   a property resembling or being covered with slime

   cohesiveness, glueyness, gluiness, gumminess, ropiness, tackiness, viscidity, viscidness

   the property of being cohesive and sticky

   gelatinousness, glutinosity, glutinousness

   the property of having a viscosity like jelly

   adherence, adhesion, adhesiveness, bond

   the property of sticking together (as of glue and wood) or the joining of surfaces of different composition

   type of:

   body, consistence, consistency, eubstance

   the property of holding together and retaining its shape