comae
A dandelion seed head has a delicate comae that helps it float on the breeze.
Definition
Noun (plural of coma)
- Medicine: A state of deep unconsciousness, typically caused by injury, disease, or poisoning, from which a person cannot be awakened.
- Botany: A tuft of hairs (such as on seeds) that aids in dispersal by wind.
- Astronomy: The nebulous envelope surrounding the nucleus of a comet.
- Physics: A region of a lens or optical system where light rays are not focused, causing distortion.
Usage Examples
- Medicine: (A state of prolonged unconsciousness.)
- Botany: (A tuft of hair-like structures.)
- Astronomy: (The glowing cloud around a comet's nucleus.)
- Physics: (An optical aberration.)
Advanced Usage
- "to be in a coma": to be in a prolonged state of unconsciousness.
- She has been in a coma since the car accident. (Unresponsive and unarousable.)
- "comatose" (adj): relating to or affected by coma; also used metaphorically for extreme lethargy.
- The economy is comatose after the recession. (Inactive or sluggish.)
Variants and Related Words
- Comatose (adj): in a state of coma; unconscious.
- The comatose patient showed no response to stimuli. (Unconscious.)
- Comatic (adj, optics): relating to or affected by comatic aberration.
- The comatic distortion was corrected with a new lens. (Optical flaw.)
Synonyms
- Unconsciousness: a state of being unaware and unresponsive.
- Stupor: a state of near-unconsciousness or insensibility.
- Haze: a cloud-like appearance (astronomy).
Phrasal Verbs
(None directly associated with "comae")
Related Idioms
- "come out of a coma": to regain consciousness after being in a coma.
- He miraculously came out of his coma after three weeks. (Regained awareness.)
- "in a coma": used figuratively to describe extreme inactivity or stupor.
- After the long meeting, I was in a mental coma. (Extremely tired or unfocused.)