rhizoverbBeta
DictionarymeniscusLiquid surface
noun

meniscus

muh-NIS-kus/məˈnɪskəs/

The curved surface of a liquid in a narrow container.

The water forms a concave meniscus inside the narrow glass tube.

An enlarged eye-level view of a narrow transparent glass tube partly filled with water, clearly showing the concave liquid surface rising at both glass walls and dipping in the center.
Etymology
menGreekmoon
+iscusGreekdiminutive

The pieces give “little moon,” the Greek name for a lunar crescent. That curved outline supplied the image for the curved surface of liquid in a container.

In context

UC Berkeley Events43:33
Water, wet surfaces, it produces a meniscus. The meniscus, the surface of the water is curved.
A New Measure: The Revolutionary, Quantum Reform of the Modern Metric System

More examples

  • Read the bottom of the water's meniscus at eye level.
  • Mercury forms a meniscus that curves upward in the middle.
  • The students compare the menisci in two graduated cylinders.

Forms

meniscus · menisci · meniscuses