fix

v. & n.
—v.
1 tr. make firm or stable; fasten, secure (fixed a picture to the wall).
2 tr. decide, settle, specify (a price, date, etc.).
3 tr. mend, repair.
4 tr. implant (an idea or memory) in the mind (couldn't get the rules fixed in his head).
5 tr. a (foll. by on, upon) direct steadily, set (one's eyes, gaze, attention, or affection). b attract and hold (a person's attention, eyes, etc.). c (foll. by with) single out with one's eyes etc.
6 tr. place definitely or permanently, establish, station.
7 tr. determine the exact nature, position, etc., of; refer (a thing or person) to a definite place or time; identify, locate.
8 a tr. make (eyes, features, etc.) rigid. b intr. (of eyes, features, etc.) become rigid.
9 tr. US colloq. prepare (food or drink) (fixed me a drink).
10 a tr. deprive of fluidity or volatility; congeal. b intr. lose fluidity or volatility, become congealed.
11 tr. colloq. punish, kill, silence, deal with (a person).
12 tr. colloq. a secure the support of (a person) fraudulently, esp. by bribery. b arrange the result of (a race, match, etc.) fraudulently (the competition was fixed).
13 sl. a tr. inject (a person, esp. oneself) with a narcotic. b intr. take an injection of a narcotic.
14 tr. make (a colour, photographic image, or microscope-specimen) fast or permanent.
15 tr. (of a plant or micro-organism) assimilate (nitrogen or carbon dioxide) by forming a non-gaseous compound.
16 tr. castrate or spay (an animal).
17 tr. arrest changes or development in (a language or literature).
18 tr. determine the incidence of (liability etc.).
19 intr. archaic take up one's position.
—n.
1 colloq. a position hard to escape from; a dilemma or predicament.
2 a the act of finding one's position by bearings or astronomical observations. b a position found in this way.
3 sl. a dose of a narcotic drug to which one is addicted.
4 US sl. bribery.
Phrases and idioms:
be fixed (usu. foll. by for) be disposed or affected (regarding) (how is he fixed for money?; how are you fixed for Friday?). fixed capital machinery etc. that remains in the owner's use. fixed-doh Mus. applied to a system of sight-singing in which C is called 'doh', D is called 'ray', etc., irrespective of the key in which they occur (cf. movable-doh). fixed focus a camera focus at a distance from a lens that is not adjustable. fixed idea = IDEacuteE FIXE. fixed income income deriving from a pension, investment at fixed interest, etc. fixed odds predetermined odds in racing etc. (opp. starting price). fixed oil an oil of animal or plant origin used in varnishes, lubricants, illuminants, soaps, etc. fixed point Physics a well-defined reproducible temperature. fixed star Astron. a star so far from the earth as to appear motionless. fix on (or upon) choose, decide on. fix up 1 arrange, organize, prepare.
2 accommodate.
3 (often foll. by with) provide (a person) (fixed me up with a job).
Derivatives:
fixable adj. fixedly adv. fixedness n.
Etymology: ME, partly f. obs. fix fixed f. OF fix or L fixus past part. of figere fix, fasten, partly f. med.L fixare f. fixus