reverse osmosis

noun Chemistry.

1. the process in which pure water is produced by forcing waste or saline water through a semipermeable membrane.

noun

1. a technique for purifying water, in which pressure is applied to force liquid through a semipermeable membrane in the opposite direction to that in normal osmosis

n.

1. The movement of a solvent in the opposite direction from osmosis in such a manner that the solvent moves from a solution of greater concentration through a membrane to a solution of lesser concentration.

1. A method of producing pure water by forcing saline or impure water through a semipermeable membrane across which salts or impurities cannot pass. Reverse osmosis is used for water filtration, for desalinization of seawater, and in kidney dialysis machines.