Instability

Instability
Instability In`sta*bil"i*ty, n.; pl. {Instabilities}. [L. instabilitas: cf. F. instabilit['e].] [1913 Webster] 1. The quality or condition of being unstable; lack of stability, firmness, or steadiness; liability to give way or to fail; insecurity; precariousness; as, the instability of a building. [1913 Webster]

2. Lack of determination of fixedness; inconstancy; fickleness; mutability; changeableness; as, instability of character, temper, custom, etc. --Addison.

Syn: Inconstancy; fickleness; changeableness; wavering; unsteadiness; unstableness. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • instability — UK US /ˌɪnstəˈbɪləti/ noun [U or C] (plural instabilities) ► ECONOMICS, POLITICS the fact of a situation being likely to change, in a way that is worrying, or the changes that happen: political/economic instability »Investors should keep in mind… …   Financial and business terms

  • instability — [in΄stə bil′ə tē] n. 1. lack of stability; unstableness; specif., a) lack of firmness or steadiness b) lack of determination; irresolution 2. tendency to behave or react violently or erratically [the instability of a chemical compound, emotional… …   English World dictionary

  • instability — instability. См. нестабильность. (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

  • instability — index doubt (indecision), fault (weakness), frailty, inconsistency, indecision, jeopardy, risk …   Law dictionary

  • instability — early 15c., from M.Fr. instabilite inconstancy, from L. instabilitatem (nom. instabilitas) unsteadiness, from instabilis unsteady, from in not, opposite of (see IN (Cf. in ) (1)) + stabilis (see STABLE (Cf. stable) (2)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • instability — [n] imbalance, inconstancy alternation, anxiety, capriciousness, changeability, changeableness, disequilibrium, disquiet, fickleness, fitfulness, flightiness, fluctuation, fluidity, frailty, hesitation, immaturity, impermanence, inconsistency,… …   New thesaurus

  • instability — ► NOUN (pl. instabilities) ▪ lack of stability …   English terms dictionary

  • Instability — [ Hydrodynamics simulation of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability [Shengtai Li, Hui Li Parallel AMR Code for Compressible MHD or HD Equations (Los Alamos National Laboratory) [http://math.lanl.gov/Research/Highlights/amrmhd.shtml] ] ] Instability in… …   Wikipedia

  • instability — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ increased ▪ growing, increasing ▪ inherent, internal ▪ the inherent instability of financial markets ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • instability — [[t]ɪ̱nstəbɪ̱lɪti[/t]] instabilities N UNCOUNT: also N in pl Instability is the quality of being unstable. ...unpopular policies, which resulted in social discontent and political instability. ...Caligula s inherent mental instability... The… …   English dictionary

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