acute
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Is acute a Scrabble word?
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What is the meaning of acute?
Definition
adj (English)
1. (botany) With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).Examples: "204. Eremophila abietina […] Corolla 23–35 mm long, cream or very pale lilac, lobes faintly metallic bluish green or lilac, tube occasionally brownish, prominently purple spotted; outer and inner surfaces glandular-pubescent; lobes acute, lobe of lower lip strongly reflexed."Antonyms: obtuse, subacute
2. (geometry, of an angle) Less than 90 degrees.Examples: "The teacher pointed out the acute angle."; "Chlorophosphuret of nitrogen (at ordinary temperatures) is a solid crystalline body. […] The form of the crystals, as obtained by sublimation, is that of a rhomboid, of which the obtuse angle measures 131° or 132°, the acute 48° or 49°: the acute angle of this rhomboid, either at one or both ends, is often truncated, when of course the angle formed is about 114°: the hexagonal prism is also found."Antonyms: obtuse
3. (geometry, of a triangle) Having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.Examples: "an acute triangle"; "In order to be an acute triangle, all three angles of a triangle must be less than 90°. These triangles can have very prickly personalities. So, if you want to create images of porcupines, rugged mountains, or narrow pine trees in your geometric design, you may best do it by using acute triangles[…]. The most commonly used acute triangle in quiltmaking is the equilateral triangle[…]. All three of its angles are 60°."Synonyms: acute-angledAntonyms: obtuse, obtuse-angled
4. (linguistics, chiefly historical) Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others.Examples: "Let this [the word alalal] be ſpoken as an Engliſh word, with the ſtrong accent on either ſyllable, or, on each, in repeating the word; and, no change of articulation diſturbing the ear, it will be abundantly evident that, with ordinary Engliſh pronunciation, the strengthened syllable has always the acuter tone, or, in muſical phraſe, the higher note."historical
5. (phonology, dated, of a sound) Sharp, produced in the front of the mouth. (See Grave and acute on Wikipedia.Wikipedia)dated
6. (medicine) Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage.Examples: "He dropped dead of an acute illness."; "Of particular relevance to the ICU [intensive care unit] setting is ketorolac, a NSAID [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug] that is being increasingly used for pain control in order to avoid problems of respiratory depression, sedation, and addiction associated with narcotics. […] ICU patients, who typically are under great stress from an acute illness that is often accompanied by multiorgan dysfunction including renal insufficiency, are especially prone to develop renal complications from ketorolac[…]."
noun (English)
1. (medicine, informal) A person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.Examples: "Anne Marie had been assigned a ‘constant supervision’ status. […] Always avoiding the unrest of the television lounge, she would sometimes join some of the older ‘acutes’ who sat isolated in metal chairs at the end of the hallway and gaze out of the window with them."informal
2. (linguistics, chiefly historical) An accent or tone higher than others.Examples: "[I]t would be strange if we wer to recite Homer, raising our voices on the acutes, lowering them on the graves, and managing the circumflexes as well as we could, yet to recite Virgil without any of these regular elevations, depressions, and circumbendibus."; "There would be no sense in our assuming that even an independent circumflex after an acute might be raised in pitch for the sake of clearer distinction from that acute; for it is sufficiently distinguished by its sliding tone; and, if it had any right to be further distinguished, an acute following an acute would have much more right; while, nevertheless, any number of acutes are allowed to succeed one another, without modification of their natural character."Antonyms: gravehistorical
3. (orthography) An acute accent (´).Examples: "The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’."; "The number of Notes in this Table, without either acute or grave marks (´ or `), is 75. Of those bearing one acute mark (´) it is 74, of those with two acutes (´´) 70, with three acutes (´´´ or ´³) 51, […]"; "The five vowels marked with acutes over them, it is probable, were first contrived to assist the ignorant monks in reading the church service, that by this means they might arrive to a proper and settled pronunciation in the discharge of their sacerdotal duties; […]"
verb (English)
1. (transitive, phonetics) To give an acute sound to.Examples: "He acutes his rising inflection too much."; "Polyſyllables having their Penultima long by poſition are acuted; as Camíllus: but having it long by nature and the last ſhort, they are circumflected; as, Românus, amâre: except the Compounds of ſit, whose Ultima is acuted; as Malefít, calefít, benefít, ſatisfít."; "This word ωροπαροξύνον has been generally underſtood, before Dr. G[ally] undertook to explain it otherwiſe, to ſignify "acuting the antepenultima.""transitive
2. (transitive, archaic) To make acute; to sharpen, to whet.Examples: "[A]n old Farmer […] uſed, when fuddled over Night, to walk naked, or only in his Shirt, until he had cooled himſelf throughly, […] This Courſe may not be improperly call'd a Balenum Aerium, and may be of great Uſe to ſober People, as well as the Fuddlers; for running empty, after Sleep and Concoction, warms the Blood and Spirits, acutes the Circulations, fans and cools the Lungs, helps both Excretion and Secretion; […]"; "It had been over a week that I had not been over to visit my most favorable place. Since I was allowed a rare opening that jaggled an intense curiosity, it acuted my senses with great anticipation that a living current was felt in my center, brought on by something truly new."archaictransitive
Definition source: Wiktionary