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Destitute of the power of moving itself, or of active resistance to motion; as, matter is inert.

aight line or direction, unless acted on by some external force; - - sometimes called vis inertiæ.

Want of activity or exertion; inertness; quietude. [R.] These vicissitudes of exertion and inertion of the arterial system constitute the paroxysms of remittent fever. E. Darwin.

Inertness; inertia. [R.] Good.

Without activity; sluggishly. Pope.

position to action or motion; sluggishness; apathy; insensibility. Glanvill. Laziness and inertness of mind. Burke.

engaged in action; energetic; diligent; busy; -- opposed to dull, sluggish, indolent, or inert; as, an active man of business; active mind; active zeal.

tance regarded as an element, contained in the atmosphere and remarkable for its chemical inertness. Rayleigh and Ramsay.

The center of mass, inertia, or gravity of a body or system of bodies.

The most quiet or deathlike time; the period of profoundest repose, inertness, or gloom; as, the dead of winter. When the drum beat at dead of night. Campbell.

The state of being destitute of life, vigor, spirit, activity, etc.; dullness; inertness; languor; coldness; vapidness; indifference; as, the deadness of a limb, a body, or a tree; the deadness of an eye; deadness of the affections; the deadness of beer or cider; deadness to the world, and the like.…

Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. "The dull earth." Shak. As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. Longfellow.

An explosive substance consisting of nitroglycerin absorbed by some inert, porous solid, as infusorial earth, sawdust, etc. It is safer than nitroglycerin, being less liable to explosion from moderate shocks, or from spontaneous decomposition.

Having equal moments of inertia.

An inert or slightly active substance used in preparing remedies as a vehicle or medium of administration for the medicinal agents. Chambers.

ends on a revolving axis, to regulate or equalize the motion of machinery by means of its inertia, where the power communicated, or the resistance to be overcome, is variable, as in the steam engine or the coining press. See Fly wheel (below).

Want of action or activity; forbearance from labor; idleness; rest; inertness. Berkeley.

Not active; having no power to move; that does not or can not produce results; inert; as, matter is, of itself, inactive.

The state or quality of being inactive; inertness; as, the inactivity of matter.

a disorder of the digestive apparatus, producing the same result. Feeble from inanition, inert from weariness. Landor. Repletion and inanition may both do harm in two contrary extremes. Burton.