normally I associate the meniscus with the knee"

but there is a "meniscus sign" in radiology and a "meniscus occlusion" in lung disease...


however here it has "menisk"....you can look at the reference yourself and see whether it is relevant

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ZluSlvzpuK4J:www.p...

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-13 16:35:15 GMT)
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i.e. compare pages 2 and 6

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-13 16:45:04 GMT)
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other finding

MRC Harwell | Harvest and cryopresevation of<em> in vivo</em ...
14 Aug 2008 ... Aspirate air until the sucrose meniscus reaches the polyvinyl alcohol, half way along the cotton plug. This will seal the labelled end of ...
www.har.mrc.ac.uk/training/cryocourse/.../embryocryo.html - Cached - Similar
►
[PDF] in vitro fertilisation:
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Aspirate air, to move the sucrose meniscus from Mark 3 to Mark 2. 7.7. Aspirate 1.5M ProH until the sucrose meniscus moves from Mark 2 to Mark 1. ...
www.emmanet.org/protocols/Embryo_cryopr_0902.pd

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Note added at 1 hr (2011-05-13 16:48:23 GMT)
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How to Hydrogenate Sugar | eHow.com
Fill a 100-mL flask halfway with distilled water; the water line, or meniscus, should be at the "50" when you're finished. 2. Set the sucrose on the weight ...
www.ehow.com › Education - Cached

just to give some ideas, that is all

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-13 16:52:53 GMT)
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here is something else on the physics of fluids

Three-dimensional aspects of fluid flows in channels. I. Meniscus ...
by R Ledesma-Aguilar - 2007 - Cited by 6 - Related articles
I. Meniscus and thin film regimes. [Physics of Fluids 19, 102112 (2007)] ...
link.aip.org/link/?PHFLE6/19/102112/1
Apparent dynamic contact angle of an advancing gas–liquid meniscus ...
by S Kalliadasis - 1994 - Cited by 35 - Related articles
The steady motion of an advancing meniscus in a gas‐filled capillary tube ...
link.aip.org/link/?PHFLE6/6/12/1
Show more results from aip.org
Meniscus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The meniscus (plural: menisci, from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface of a standing body of liquid, produced in response to the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meniscus - Cached - Simila

I wish you the best of luck here!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2011-05-13 16:54:03 GMT)
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from wiki

Meniscus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Meniscus (anatomy), Lens (optics)#Types of simple lenses, and Meniscus Film Festival.


A: The bottom of a concave meniscus.
B: The top of a convex meniscus.
The meniscus (plural: menisci, from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface of a standing body of liquid, produced in response to the surface of the container or another object. It can be either convex or concave. A convex meniscus occurs when the molecules have a stronger attraction to each other (cohesion) than to the material of the container (adhesion).[1] This may be seen between mercury and glass in barometers [1] and thermometers. Conversely, a concave meniscus occurs when the molecules of the liquid attract those of the container's, causing the surface of the liquid to cave downwards. This can be seen in a glass of water. One can over-fill a glass with mercury and produce a convex meniscus that raises above the top of the glass, due to the vacuum created with the airtight substance.


A meniscus as seen in a burette of colored water.
Capillary action acts on concave menisci to pull the liquid up, increasing the amount of energetically favorable contact area between liquid and container, and on convex menisci to pull the liquid down, reducing the amount of contact area. This phenomenon is important in transpirational pull in plants. Honey, water, milk etc. have a lower meniscus. When a tube of a narrow bore, often called a capillary tube, is dipped into a liquid and the liquid wets the tube (with zero contact angle), the liquid surface inside the tube forms a concave meniscus, which is a virtually spherical surface having the same radius, r, as the inside of the tube. The tube experiences a downward force of magnitude 2πrdσ[citation needed].
When reading a scale on the side of an instrument filled up with liquid, the meniscus must be taken into account in order to obtain a precise measurement. Manufacturers take the meniscus into account and calibrate their measurement marks relative to the resulting meniscus. The measurement is taken with the meniscus at eye level to eliminate parallax error, and at the center of the meniscus, i.e. the top of a convex meniscus, or the bottom of a concave meniscus. This means that the instrument is calibrated for one specific fluid, usually water.
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I think it is the latter definition, FWIW