Cāp'il-la-ry or Ca-pil'la-ry1, a.
(Synop., § 130), a. [Lat. capillaris, from capillus, hair; Fr. capillaire.]
- Resembling a hair; fine, minute, small in diameter; long and very slender; as, the capillary vessels of animals and plants.
- Pertaining to capillary tubes or vessels; as, capillary action.
Capillary attraction and repulsion, the cause which determines the ascent or descent of a fluid in a capillary tube above or below the level of the surrounding fluid, when the tube is dipped in that fluid. P. Cyc.—Capillary plants (Bot.), the ferns, or Filices. Milne.