Fluidized

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. The conversion of solid materials into a flowing, fluid-like state happens when energy is applied to enable particle suspension in a liquid medium
2. The method by which solid particles are suspended in a liquid medium, resulting in a state similar to that of a fluid occurs through the input of energy into the material
3. Changed from a solid or packed form into a state where particles move freely like a liquid

Etymology: A bed of fine solid powder can be made to behave like a boiling liquid. When gas or liquid is forced upward through the particles at the right speed, they lift apart and slide around one another, and the mass starts to pour and level like a fluid. Engineers in chemical and process industries applied the term to this effect, so the adjective names a solid that has taken on the behavior of a liquid. The word is built from "fluid," which comes from the Latin "fluere," "to flow," and its adjective "fluidus." English "fluidize" adds "-ize," a suffix ultimately from Greek that forms verbs meaning "to make" or "to cause to become." The ending "-ed" turns that verb into the adjective, describing particles that have been set into this flowing state.