Construct · 3 fields · 3 citations

Where does tears collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, three constructs Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
tears3 CONSTRUCTSTears of wineFOURNIER · MARANGONITear filmWILLCOX · TEAR FILMTear strengthRIVLIN & THOMAS · TEARING

Spokes are fields; dashed arcs are shared lineage. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

1953Tear strength1992Tears of wine2017Tear film
2026

Drag to watch the word get claimed. Each field appears at the publication date of the earliest source cited for it. Tap a year to see which.

Fluid dynamics

droplets that climb a wine glass and run back down, pulled up by a surface-tension gradient as alcohol evaporates.

The "tears" or "legs" of wine are the droplets that climb the inside of a glass above the liquid and run back down: alcohol evaporates faster than water from the thin wetting film, raising its surface tension locally, and the resulting surface-tension gradient (the Marangoni effect) pulls liquid upward until it collects and falls as tears. Fournier and Cazabat analysed this instability quantitatively. The referent is a specific surface-tension-gradient flow phenomenon, a physics meaning of "tears" distinct from lacrimal fluid or a material's resistance to tearing.[1]

Unit
The ridge-and-droplet flow produced by a surface-tension gradient on a liquid film
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Characterised by film climb height, the surface-tension gradient, and tear drop formation rate

Physiology / ophthalmology

The fluid film that coats and protects the eye

In physiology, tears form the tear film: a thin, layered fluid (lipid, aqueous, and mucin components) that coats the ocular surface, keeps it moist, provides a smooth optical surface, and defends against infection; its breakdown underlies dry-eye disease. The TFOS DEWS II tear film report (Willcox et al.) summarizes its structure and function. The referent is lacrimal fluid and its protective film on the eye, a biological construct sharing only the word with wine's Marangoni tears or tear strength.[2]

Unit
The structure and stability of the fluid film coating the ocular surface
Recovery means
The film is continually replenished by blinking and tear secretion; stability recovers with treatment of dry eye
Measured by
Assessed by tear break-up time, tear volume, and osmolarity

Materials science

A material's resistance to tearing or crack growth

In materials science, tearing refers to the propagation of a crack through a material, and tear strength (or tearing energy) measures the resistance to that crack growth. Rivlin and Thomas defined a characteristic "tearing energy" (the energy needed to advance a tear per unit new surface) for rubber, founding the fracture mechanics of elastomers. The referent is a mechanical fracture property quantified by energy or force per thickness, unrelated to wine films or lacrimal fluid beyond the word "tear."[3]

Unit
The energy or force per thickness required to propagate a tear in a material
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Measured by tear-test force per unit thickness or the characteristic tearing energy

Next

Run it through the Collider, or take the citations with you.

See how tears sits against neighbouring constructs in the Collider, or export every reference on this page in one click.

Open in ColliderExport BibTeXReport this collision

Nearby collisions

annulus1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a standalone constructbreakdown3 fields · 6 citationsjingle · one word, three constructs

References

  1. Fournier, J. B., & Cazabat, A. M. (1992). Tears of wine. Europhysics Letters, 20(6), 517–522. https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/20/6/008
  2. Willcox, M. D. P., Argüeso, P., Georgiev, G. A., Holopainen, J. M., Laurie, G. W., Millar, T. J., Papas, E. B., Rolland, J. P., et al. (2017). TFOS DEWS II tear film report. The Ocular Surface, 15(3), 366–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtos.2017.03.006
  3. Rivlin, R. S., & Thomas, A. G. (1953). Rupture of rubber. I. Characteristic energy for tearing. Journal of Polymer Science, 10(3), 291–318. https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1953.120100303

Cited on this page?

Confirm your construct, or correct us.

If your work is cited behind one of these entries, you know better than we do whether we captured the meaning right. Confirm it, suggest an edit, or dispute it, and your name goes on the entry as an author who has checked it, linked to your ORCID.

Claim your construct