n. 1. A position of difficulty or embarassment; predicament; dilemma. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Is he not living, then? No. is he dead, then? No, nor dead either. Poor Aroar can not live, and can not die, -- so that he is in an almighty fix. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Iron Manuf.) fettling. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE., fr. L. fixus, p. p. of figere to fix; cf. F. fixe. ] Fixed; solidified. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fixed p. pr. & vb. n. Fixing. ] [ Cf. F. fixer. ] 1. To make firm, stable, or fast; to set or place permanently; to fasten immovably; to establish; to implant; to secure; to make definite. [ 1913 Webster ]

An ass's nole I fixed on his head. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, fix thy chair of grace, that all my powers
May also fix their reverence. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. Ps. cxii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

And fix far deeper in his head their stings. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To hold steadily; to direct unwaveringly; to fasten, as the eye on an object, the attention on a speaker. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sat fixed in thought the mighty Stagirite. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

One eye on death, and one full fix'd on heaven. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To transfix; to pierce. [ Obs. ] Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Photog.) To render (an impression) permanent by treating with a developer to make it insensible to the action of light. Abney. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To put in order; to arrange; to dispose of; to adjust; to set to rights; to set or place in the manner desired or most suitable; hence, to repair; as, to fix the clothes; to fix the furniture of a room. [ Colloq. U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Iron Manuf.) To line the hearth of (a puddling furnace) with fettling.

Syn. -- To arrange; prepare; adjust; place; establish; settle; determine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To become fixed; to settle or remain permanently; to cease from wandering; to rest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your kindness banishes your fear,
Resolved to fix forever here. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To become firm, so as to resist volatilization; to cease to flow or be fluid; to congeal; to become hard and malleable, as a metallic substance. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

To fix on, to settle the opinion or resolution about; to determine regarding; as, the contracting parties have fixed on certain leading points. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being fixed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. fixation. ] 1. The act of fixing, or the state of being fixed. [ 1913 Webster ]

An unalterable fixation of resolution. Killingbeck. [ 1913 Webster ]

To light, created in the first day, God gave no proper place or fixation. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Marked stiffness or absolute fixation of a joint. Quain. [ 1913 Webster ]

A fixation and confinement of thought to a few objects. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of uniting chemically with a solid substance or in a solid form; reduction to a non-volatile condition; -- said of gaseous elements. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act or process of ceasing to be fluid and becoming firm. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by heat; -- said of metals. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which serves to set or fix colors or drawings, as a mordant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Securely placed or fastened; settled; established; firm; imovable; unalterable. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) Stable; non-volatile. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fixed air (Old Chem.), carbonic acid or carbon dioxide; -- so called by Dr. Black because it can be absorbed or fixed by strong bases. See Carbonic acid, under Carbonic. --
Fixed alkali (Old Chem.), a non-volatile base, as soda, or potash, in distinction from the volatile alkali ammonia. --
Fixed ammunition (Mil.), a projectile and powder inclosed together in a case ready for loading. --
Fixed battery (Mil.), a battery which contains heavy guns and mortars intended to remain stationary; -- distinguished from movable battery. --
Fixed bodies, those which can not be volatilized or separated by a common menstruum, without great difficulty, as gold, platinum, lime, etc. --
Fixed capital. See the Note under Capital, n., 4. --
Fixed fact, a well established fact. [ Colloq. ] --
Fixed light, one which emits constant beams; -- distinguished from a flashing, revolving, or intermittent light. --
Fixed oils (Chem.), non-volatile, oily substances, as stearine and olein, which leave a permanent greasy stain, and which can not be distilled unchanged; -- distinguished from volatile or essential oils. --
Fixed pivot (Mil.), the fixed point about which any line of troops wheels. --
Fixed stars (Astron.), such stars as always retain nearly the same apparent position and distance with respect to each other, thus distinguished from planets and comets. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a fixed, stable, or constant manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The state or quality of being fixed; stability; steadfastness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality of a body which resists evaporation or volatilization by heat; solidity; cohesion of parts; as, the fixedness of gold. [ 1913 Webster ]