What's the difference between ambiguous and opaque?

Ambiguous


Definition:

  • (a.) Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Along the spectrum of loyalties lie multiple loyalties and ambiguous loyalties, and the latter, if unresolved, create moral ambiguities.
  • (2) This examination has proved an important help in the diagnosis of all the cases of sexual ambiguity.
  • (3) Exogenous activators of PKC stimulate insulin secretion from B cells, but attempts to define a physiological role for PKC by using inhibitors of this enzyme have produced ambiguous results.
  • (4) The aza analogue (RS)-3-hydroxy-2,5-pyrrolidinedione-3-acetic acid (6) of the five-membered citric anhydride (2) was prepared in the sequence citric acid----2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-one-5,5-diacetic acid (1)----citric acid beta-amide (3)----6 and used to resolve ambiguities in the mechanism of the citrate synthase reaction.
  • (5) Results obtained with this analog can be ambiguous, since 2-DOG can be phosphorylated by hexokinases of animal cells.
  • (6) Ultrasound has also proven useful in evaluating patients with ambiguous genitalia, amenorrhea and suspected PID and also is an effective means of localizing intrauterine contraceptive devices.
  • (7) Authors have previously published April 1988 a lecture where they criticize the bad denomination "passed coma" full of ambiguity for public mind, to which "brain death" ought to be preferred.
  • (8) There were, though, large omissions and ambiguities that will need to be filled in and clarified as polling day nears.
  • (9) "Prostatic acid phosphatase" is a term that has been used widely and ambiguously to refer to acid phosphatase, which 1) is elevated in the sera of patients with various diseases of the prostate, 2) is inhibited by one or more specific inhibitors, 3) attacks one or more specific substrates, 4) has certain unique antigenic properties, 5) is extracted from homogenates of prostate, and 6) is obtained from prostate secretions, etc.
  • (10) We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.” However, there is still some slight ambiguity about whether the deal is for Winter 2015 only.
  • (11) This ambiguity was resolved by using resealed ghosts, which are unable to incorporate oleic acid into phospholipids.
  • (12) This report describes a minicomputer-based translation system (TRANSOFT) that employs word order rearrangement followed by word-for-word translation and resolution of ambiguities based on context.
  • (13) Authors report a ring chromosome 18 (18 r) in a four year old boy, with low birth weight, retarded growth and development, microcephaly and plagiocephaly, horizontal nystagmus, ambiguous genitalia, clinodactyly of the fifth finger, distal axial triradius, whorls pattern in 8 fingers in dermatoglyphic.
  • (14) Membrane potential trajectories of 68 bulbar respiratory neurones from the peri-solitary and peri-ambigual areas of the brain-stem were recorded in anaesthetized cats to explore the synaptic influences of post-inspiratory neurones upon the medullary inspiratory network.
  • (15) As well, two-dimensional 15N-1H heteronuclear spectroscopy was used to resolve a number of ambiguities present in the homonuclear spectra due to resonance redundancies.
  • (16) The axon of the labeled bulbospinal neuron had axonal collaterals which were distributed within the region of the nucleus ambiguous of the ipsilateral medulla.
  • (17) Of the 406 tests there have been 85 positive, 296 negative and 25 ambiguous reports.
  • (18) In a second experiment schizophrenics were significantly different from the depressives in showing less inclination to select a metaphorical meaning to an ambiguous adjective in a sentence.
  • (19) Three-quarters of the sample was impaired on at least one of four discourse tests (knowing the alternate meanings of ambiguous words in context; getting the point of figurative or metaphoric expressions; bridging the inferential gaps between events in stereotyped social situations; and producing speech acts that express the apparent intentions of others).
  • (20) Yet, the apparent ambiguities of science confuse the courts, the juries, and the public.

Opaque


Definition:

  • (a.) Impervious to the rays of light; not transparent; as, an opaque substance.
  • (a.) Obscure; not clear; unintelligible.
  • (n.) That which is opaque; opacity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "Maybe dullness is associated with psychic pain," Wallace wrote at one point, "because something that's dull or opaque fails to provide enough stimulation to distract people from some other, deeper type of pain that is always there, if only in an ambient low-level way, and which most of us spend nearly all our time and energy trying to distract ourselves from."
  • (2) It should also be realised that, in a very few hospitals, swabs which do not have an opaque marker may occasionally be used in theatre.
  • (3) The colors of mixtures of dental opaque porcelains and modifiers were measured with use of the CIE L*a*b* uniform color space.
  • (4) Type II pigment is extremely electron-opaque after staining with heavy metals to the extent that they appear practically amorphous.
  • (5) In conclusion, the use of metoclopramide in the postoperative period did not result in a quicker return of propulsive motility in the right or left colon as judged by the radio-opaque markers and serial abdominal radiographs.
  • (6) At the former site the membrane overlying the bud showed an electron opaque thickening which imparted to the mature particle an asymmetrical appearance.
  • (7) At that time, the universe underwent a crucial change: it went from being opaque to transparent.
  • (8) Our data confirm the poorer short-term orientation performance of jaundiced infants treated with phototherapy but do not indicate that covering the eyes with an opaque screen improves behavioral organization.
  • (9) All patients had at least one laparotomy, at which time a biopsy was obtained, radio-opaque clips were placed to define the extent of the gross tumor, and usually some form of bypass procedure was performed.
  • (10) Two types are present, a crystalline (clear) form and a white, opaque form with pigmentation resulting from a diene rubber.
  • (11) In two of these cases, pathologic findings included opaque ciliary body cysts, a ciliochoroidal effusion, retinal microaneurysms and hemorrhages, and detachment of both the sensory retina and the retinal pigment epithelium.
  • (12) The WF-1 are originally arranged around the WF-2, as small electron opaque granules making a dark ring, to move towards the periphery of the macrogamete body with maturation.
  • (13) Five fish with lateral lines cut at the opercula were unable to school when wearing opaque eye covers.
  • (14) A combined morphological, autoradiographic, and cytochemical study at the electron microscope level has been directed towards the formation of electron-opaque granules of cultured macrophages.
  • (15) The intranuclear spindle of yeast has an electron-opaque body at each pole.
  • (16) On lecithin agar, interpretation was easier, phospholipase A was detectable, and opaque zones were visible 1 or 2 days earlier than on egg yolk agar.
  • (17) New light-curable adhesive opaque resins were prepared using 4-methacryloxyethyl trimellitate anhydride (4-META), triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), di (methacryloxyethyl) trimethylhexamethylene diurethane (UDMA) and titanium dioxide.
  • (18) In particular, most prototrophic strains obtained from patients with localized infection had proteins I with molecular weights varying from 35,000 to 38,000 daltons and gave predominantly opaque colonies.
  • (19) Resulting specimens yield an excellent view of the skeletal system and the injected vascular system without obstruction by opaque tissues or disruption by physical removal of connective tissue.
  • (20) Follicles greater than or equal to 5 mm in diameter were classified as clear (n=68) or opaque (n=72) based on their surface appearance.