hy|po

hy|po¹ «HY poh», noun.

a colorless or white crystalline salt used to treat photographic negatives and prints to keep them from fading; sodium thiosulfate; fixer; fixing bath. Formula: Na₂S₂O₃

╂[short for hyposufite]

hy|po² «HY poh», noun, plural -pos, verb. Informal.

–n.

1. = hypodermic. (Cf. ↑hypodermic)

2. Figurative. a stimulus: »

Easier credit could provide a major hypo for retail sales in the months just ahead (Wall Street Journal).

–v.t.

1. to inject (a drug) by hypodermic syringe.

2. Figurative. to stimulate, often artificially; increase or promote: »

to hypo the sales of foreign cars in the United States. Shopkeepers in one city dragged out old depression remedies to hypo trade (Newsweek).

hy|po³ «HY poh», noun, plural -pos.

1. Slang. a hypochondriac.

2. Obsolete. hypochondria.

hypo-,

prefix.

1. under; beneath; below: »

Hypodermic = under the skin.

2. to a lesser degree: »

Hypothyroid = a deficient thyroid gland.

3. Chemistry. indicating a compound which is less oxidized than the corresponding compound without the prefix: »

Hypochlorous acid = acid less oxidized than chlorous acid.

╂[< Greek hypo-, related to hypó under]