[syn: fixation, fixing]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Fixation \Fix*a"tion\ (f[i^]ks*[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [Cf. F.
fixation.]
1. The act of fixing, or the state of being fixed.
[1913 Webster]
An unalterable fixation of resolution.
--Killingbeck.
[1913 Webster]
To light, created in the first day, God gave no
proper place or fixation. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
[1913 Webster]
Marked stiffness or absolute fixation of a joint.
--Quain.
[1913 Webster]
A fixation and confinement of thought to a few
objects. --Watts.
[1913 Webster]
2. The act of uniting chemically with a solid substance or in
a solid form; reduction to a non-volatile condition; --
said of gaseous elements.
[1913 Webster]
3. The act or process of ceasing to be fluid and becoming
firm. --Glanvill.
[1913 Webster]
4. A state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by
heat; -- said of metals. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
fixation
n 1: an abnormal state in which development has stopped
prematurely [syn: arrested development, fixation,
infantile fixation, regression]
2: an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or
someone [syn: obsession, fixation]
3: the activity of fastening something firmly in position
4: (histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample
to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had
in the living body [syn: fixation, fixing]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
107 Moby Thesaurus words for "fixation":
Freudian fixation, anchorage, arrest, arrestation,
arrested development, arrestment, blockage, blocking, check,
clogging, closing up, closure, colonization, complex, compulsion,
confirmation, constriction, cramp, craze, deep-rootedness,
deep-seatedness, delay, detainment, detention, embedment,
entrenchment, establishment, fascination, father fixation, fetish,
fixed idea, fixedness, fixity, fixture, foot-dragging, foundation,
hampering, hang-up, hindering, hindrance, holdback, holdup,
hypercathexis, idee fixe, immobility, impediment, implantation,
inaction, inactivity, inauguration, infantile fixation,
infatuation, infixion, inhibition, initiation, installation,
installment, interference, interruption, investiture, inveteracy,
irresistible impulse, kick, let, libido fixation, lodgment, mania,
monomania, mooring, morbid drive, mother fixation, motionlessness,
negativism, nuisance value, obsession, obsessive compulsion,
obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, opposition,
parent fixation, peopling, plantation, population, possession,
pregenital fixation, preoccupation, prepossession, regression,
repression, resistance, restraint, restriction, retardation,
retardment, retreat to immaturity, ruling passion, setback,
settlement, settling, squeeze, stabilization, stranglehold,
stricture, suppression, thing, tic