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Thursday April 24, 2003

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quiescent \kwy-ES-uhnt; kwee-\ , adjective:
Being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive.

The solution, Dr. Wilmut discovered, was to, in effect, put the DNA from the adult cell to sleep, making it quiescent by depriving the adult cell of nutrients.
-- Gina Kolata, "Scientist Reports First Cloning Ever of Adult Mammal", New York Times, February 23, 1997

A vicious but localized Sino-Japanese war raged around the Shanghai region through much of 1932. The conflict then settled into a quiescent phase for several years.
-- David M. Kennedy, "The Horror", The Atlantic, April 1998

Have we had our day and are we . . . just carrying on after the manner of the aged, quiescent, devitalized, uncreative, desiring peace and sleep above all else?
-- Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India

Quiescent derives from the present participle of Latin quiescere, to rest, from quies, rest.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for quiescent

 

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