etiolation

American  

[ee-tee-uh-lay-shuhn] / ˌi ti əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

plural

etiolations

1. the process or result of becoming weak or drained of vigor; enfeeblement.

2. Horticulture. the process or result of etiolating a plant.

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etiolation Scientific  

/ ē′tē-ə-lā′shən /

1. A pathological condition of plants that grow in places that provide insufficient light, as under stones. It is characterized by elongated stems and pale color due to lack of chlorophyll.

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Other Word Forms

• de-etiolation noun

Example Sentences

Perhaps he overlooked the packets’ stern warnings about overcrowding and etiolation and damping off, their instructions to carefully sprinkle pre-wetted soil extremely sparsely with, say, five seeds at a time.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 23, 2019

By the fierce battle under every blade, By the etiolation of the shade, By drouth and thirst and things undone half made, Oh, hear!

From A Cluster of Grapes A Book of Twentieth Century Poetry by Various

Achromatism -- N. achromatism†; decoloration†, discoloration; pallor, pallidness, pallidity†; paleness &c. adj.; etiolation; neutral tint, monochrome, black and white.

From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark

Attention was drawn to the fact that by virtue of the laws which Darwin himself had discovered isolation leads to etiolation.

From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)

Forced Endive, Rhubarb, Asparagus, and earthed Celery afford examples of etiolation purposely induced.

From Disease in Plants by Ward, H. Marshall