ablative — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Applied to one of the cases of the noun in some languages, the fundamental meaning of the case being removal, separation, or taking away, and to a lesser degree, instrument, place, accordance, specifications, price, or measurement.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

2. Pertaining to taking away or removing.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • not-comparable

   Examples

   Where the heart is forestalled with misopinion, ablative directions are found needful to unteach error, ere we can learn truth.

3. Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. .

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to "boil away" when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.

4. Relating to the removal of a body part, tumor, or organ.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

5. Relating to the erosion of a land mass; relating to the melting or evaporation of a glacier.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

Noun

1. The ablative case.

2. An ablative material.

Adjective

1. relating to the ablative case

2. tending to ablate; i.e. to be removed or vaporized at very high temperature

   Examples

   ablative material on a rocket cone

Noun

1. the case indicating the agent in passive sentences or the instrument or manner or place of the action described by the verb

   Synonyms

   ablative case

   Broader terms

   obliqueoblique case