insulated, ppl. a.
(ˈɪnsjʊleɪtɪd)
[f. prec. + -ed1.]
1. Made into an island; surrounded by water.
| 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) I. i. 19 Britain was viewed in the lights of a distinct and insulated world. 1789 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Expost. Odes xiii. Wks. 1812 II. 245 Like some lone insulated Rock am I. 1820 Scott Monast. v, The bridge-keeper..resided with his family in the second and third stories of the tower, which, when both drawbridges were raised, formed an insulated fortalice in the midst of the river. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xviii. 225 Greenland, however insulated it may ultimately prove to be, is in mass strictly continental. |
2. transf. and fig. Placed or standing in a detached position; standing apart; separated from intercourse with others; solitary, isolated.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Insulate, or Insulated, a term applied to a column, or other edifice which stands alone, or free and detached from any contiguous wall, &c. like an island in the sea. 1774 Pennant Tour Scotl. in 1772, 39 Insulated pyramidal hills. 1781 Cowper Let. to W. Unwin 26 Nov. To be content with an insulated life. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 37 In the case of separate insulated private men. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 102 The accusation has arisen out of some insulated case. 1859 G. Meredith R. Feverel xii, Like every insulated mortal. |
3. Electrically cut off from (the earth or other conducting bodies) by being surrounded with non-conductors. Also used with reference to heat and sound (cf. insulate v. 3).
| 1772 H. Cavendish in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. 1771 LXI. 650 Any number of bodies, insulated and communicating with each other by conducting substances. 1777 T. Cavallo Compl. Treat. Electr. 3 A body resting intirely upon non-conductors is said to be insulated. 1791 Read in Phil. Trans. LXXXI. 195, I had purposely placed a large glass bowl, upon an insulated table, in the open air, to catch the falling electricity. 1834 M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxviii. (1849) 312 Bodies surrounded with non-conductors are said to be insulated, because, when charged, the electricity cannot escape. 1871 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. (1879) II. xvi. 446 Between the two principal carbons is placed a third insulated rod of the same material. 1964 W. Markfield To Early Grave (1965) x. 176 An appetizing store, where..you can take home their potato salad in an insulated bag. 1970 Guardian 24 Aug. 14/2 Insulated containers for the fruit and food trade. 1970 C. Duerden Noise Abatement vii. 115 Construct a special sound insulated chamber. 1974 A. Ross Bradford Business 75 A length of insulated cable..snaked across the floor to a three-pin socket. |