dissipations

Noun

dissipation (countable and uncountable, plural dissipations)

1. The act of dissipating or dispersing; a state of dispersion or separation; dispersion; waste.
   • without loss or dissipation of the matter1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
2. A dissolute course of life, in which health, money, etc., are squandered in pursuit of pleasure; profuseness in immoral indulgence, as late hours, riotous living, etc.; dissoluteness.
   • 18th century, Patrick Henry in a parliamentary debate
     to reclaim the spendthrift from his dissipation and extravagance
3. A trifle which wastes time or distracts attention.
   • Prevented from finishing them [the letters] a thousand avocations and dissipations.1733 May 28, letter from Alexander Pope to Jonathan Swift
4. A loss of energy, usually as heat, from a dynamic system.
   • They conclude[…] the planet will have a final period of rotation between 56 and 88 days, depending on the assumed form of the dissipation function.1965 November 6, G. Colombo, “Rotational Period of the Planet Mercury”, in Nature, volume 208, number 575, →DOI