- (histology) the preservation and hardening of a tissue sample to retain as nearly as possible the same relations they had in the living body

- the activity of fastening something firmly in position

- an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

- an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely

1. The act of fixing, or the state of being fixed.

"An unalterable fixation of resolution." -- Killingbeck.

"To light, created in the first day, God gave no proper place or fixation." -- Sir W. Raleigh.

"Marked stiffness or absolute fixation of a joint." -- Quain.

"A fixation and confinement of thought to a few objects." -- Watts.

2. The act of uniting chemically with a solid substance or in a solid form; reduction to a non-volatile condition; -- said of gaseous elements.

3. The act or process of ceasing to be fluid and becoming firm. Glanvill.

4. A state of resistance to evaporation or volatilization by heat; -- said of metals. Bacon.