encyst

[ en-sist ]

verb (used with or without object)Biology.
  1. to enclose or become enclosed in a cyst.

Origin of encyst

1
First recorded in 1835–45; en-1 + cyst

Other words from encyst

  • en·cyst·ment, en·cys·ta·tion, noun
  • un·en·cyst·ed, adjective

Words Nearby encyst

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use encyst in a sentence

  • The resulting coupled cell or zygote divides into two, which again encyst.

  • She has had to encyst it, or it would be to her Senegal and French Guinea possessions a regular main to lay on smuggling.

    West African studies | Mary Henrietta Kingsley
  • Thence they are apt to migrate or stray into the lungs and liver, where they encyst themselves.

    Parasites | T. Spencer Cobbold
  • The Cercari part with their tails, and subsequently they encyst themselves on or within the surface of the body of some mollusk.

    Parasites | T. Spencer Cobbold

British Dictionary definitions for encyst

encyst

/ (ɛnˈsɪst) /


verb
  1. biology to enclose or become enclosed by a cyst, thick membrane, or shell

Derived forms of encyst

  • encysted, adjective
  • encystment or encystation, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012