Results for asperity
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Dictionary:

asperity

  (ă-spĕr'ĭ-tē) pronunciation
n., pl. -ties.
    1. Roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate: the asperity of northern winters.
    2. Severity; rigor.
  1. A slight projection from a surface; a point or bump.
  2. Harshness of manner; ill temper or irritability.

[Middle English asperite, from Old French asprete, from Latin asperitās, from asper, rough.]


 
 
Word Overheard: asperity

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, no softie herself, accuses US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of speaking with asperity (a harsh manner). But doesn't this seem appropriate when talking about terrorist groups and states?

"Condi doesn't want to talk to Hezbollah or its sponsors, Syria and Iran — 'Syria knows what it needs to do,' she says with asperity — and she doesn't want a cease-fire. She wants 'a sustainable cease-fire'..."

Link: Condi's Flying Dutchman - New York Times

Posted July 23, 2006.

 
Thesaurus: asperity

noun

    Something that obstructs progress and requires great effort to overcome: difficulty, hardship, rigor, vicissitude (often used in plural). Idioms: ahardtoughnut to crack, ahardtoughrow to hoe, heavy sledding. See easy/hard.

 
Antonyms: asperity

n

Definition: meanness; bad temper
Antonyms: calmness, happiness, kindness, mildness


 
Word Tutor: asperity
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Sharpness; toughness.

pronunciation Harriet's words were full of asperity.

 
Wikipedia: asperity
The top image shows asperities under no load.  The bottom image depicts the same surface after a load is applied.
Enlarge
The top image shows asperities under no load. The bottom image depicts the same surface after a load is applied.

Asperity is defined as unevenness of surface, roughness, ruggedness (OED). Flat surfaces, even those polished to a mirror finish, are not truly flat on an atomic scale. They are rough, with sharp, rough or rugged outgrowth, termed asperities.

When two macroscopically flat surfaces come into contact, initially they only touch at a few of these asperity points. These cover only a very small portion of the surface area. Friction and wear originate at these points and thus understanding their behavior is important when studying materials in contact. When the surfaces are subjected to a compressive load, the asperities plastically deform, increasing the contact area between the two surfaces until the contact area is sufficient to support the load.

The Archard equation is a simplified model of asperity deformation when materials in contact are subject to a force.


 
Translations: Translations for: Asperity

Dansk (Danish)
n. - strenghed, hårdhed, barskhed

Nederlands (Dutch)
kribbigheid, ruw woord, ruwheid, scherpe uitwas, ruw oppervlak, raspend geluid

Français (French)
n. - aspérité, rudesse, rigueurs (npl)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Härte, Rauheit

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τραχύτητα, δριμύτητα

Italiano (Italian)
asprezza, rigore

Português (Portuguese)
n. - aspereza (f), severidade (f), rigor (m)

Русский (Russian)
неровность, шероховатость

Español (Spanish)
n. - aspereza

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kärvhet, skärpa

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
严酷, 刻薄, 粗暴

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 嚴酷, 刻薄, 粗暴

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 퉁명스러움, 고난

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 荒々しさ, きびしさ, 手ざわりの荒さ, 辛辣な言葉

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قسوه, خشونه, حده‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮גסות, חספוס, קושי, קשיחות‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Word Overheard. © 1999-2008 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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