Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SOL'ID, a. [L. solidus; Fr. solide; It. and Sp. solido; from the sense of setting or pressure, and hence allied to L. solum, Eng. sill.]

1. Hard; firm; compact; having its constituent particles so close or dense as to resist the impression or penetration of other bodies. Hence solid bodies are not penetrable, nor are the parts movable and easily displaced like those of fluids. Solid is opposed to fluid and liquid.
2. Not hollow; full of matter; as, a solid globe or cone, as distinguished from a hollow one.
3. Having all the geometrical dimensions; cubic; as, a solid foot contains 1728 solid inches. Arbuthnot. [In this sense, cubic is now generally used.]
4. Firm; compact; strong; as, a solid pier; a solid pile; a solid wall. – Addison.
5. Sound; not weakly; as, a solid constitution of body. [Sound is more generally used.] – Watts.
6. Real; sound; valid; true; just; not empty or fallacious. Wise men seek solid reasons for their opinions.
7. Grave; profound; not light, trifling or superficial. These wanting wit, affect gravity, and go by the name of solid men. – Dryden.
8. In botany, of a fleshy, uniform, undivided substance, as a bulb or root; not spongy or hollow within, as a stem. – Martyn. A solid foot contains 1728 solid inches, weighing 1000 ounces of rain water. Solid angle, an angle formed by three or more plane angles meeting to a point. Solid square, in military language, is a square body of troops; a body in which the ranks and files are equal.