Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Tenacity?

\Te*nac"i*ty\, n. [L. tenacitas: cf. F. t['e]nacit['e]. See {Tenacious}.] 1. The quality or state of being tenacious; as, tenacity, or retentiveness, of memory; tenacity, or persistency, of purpose. 2. That quality of bodies which keeps them from parting without considerable force; cohesiveness; the effect of attraction; -- as distinguished from brittleness, fragility, mobility, etc. 3. That quality of bodies which makes them adhere to other bodies; adhesiveness; viscosity. --Holland. 4. (Physics) The greatest longitudinal stress a substance can bear without tearing asunder, -- usually expressed with reference to a unit area of the cross section of the substance, as the number of pounds per square inch, or kilograms per square centimeter, necessary to produce rupture.