volatile: Meaning and Definition of
vol•a•tile
Pronunciation: (vol'u-tl, -til or, esp. Brit., -tīl"), [key] — adj.
- evaporating rapidly; passing off readily in the form of vapor: Acetone is a volatile solvent.
- tending or threatening to break out into open violence; explosive: a volatile political situation.
- changeable; mercurial; flighty: a volatile disposition.
- (of prices, values, etc.) tending to fluctuate sharply and regularly: volatile market conditions.
- fleeting; transient: volatile beauty.
- of or pertaining to storage that does not retain data when electrical power is turned off or fails.
- able to fly or flying.
—n. - a volatile substance, as a gas or solvent.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.