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A sensitive kind of barometer, in which the pressure of the atmosphere, acting upon a liquid, as oil, in the lower portion of the instrument, compresses an elastic gas in the upper part.

Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances. He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin. Macaul…

ed, causes variations in the strength of the current, which variations are indicated by a sensitive galvanometer. It is also used for measuring minute changes of temperature. T. A. Edison.

place of the eyepiece of a telescope, so that the real or a magnified image falls on the sensitive plate.

Having great sensibility; susceptible of impressions or influence; affectionate; pitying; sensitive. -- Ten"der-heart`ed*ly, adv. -- Ten"der-heart`ed*ness, n. Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted, and could not withstand them. 2 Chron. xiii. 7. Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted. Eph. iv. 32.…

Having a thick skin; hence, not sensitive; dull; obtuse. Holland.

Having a thin skin; hence, sensitive; irritable.

an excessive desire for notice or approval; pride; ostentation; conceit. The exquisitely sensitive vanity of Garrick was galled. Macaulay.

of external objects are appreciated as a result of the stimulating action of light on the sensitive retina, an expansion of the optic nerve.

A plate the film of which retains its sensitiveness only while wet. The film used in such plates is of collodion impregnated with bromides and iodides. Before exposure the plate is immersed in a solution of silver nitrate, and immediately after exposure it is developed and fixed.