nucleate
Americanadjective
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nucleate
First recorded in 1860–65, nucleate is from the Latin word nucleātus having a kernel or stone. See nucleus, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It is thought that small carbon clusters containing Si atoms might serve as the 'pre-nuclei', which can then grow further to nucleate a diamond.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2024
Just as water must cool below freezing before ice can nucleate, researchers have suggested iron can’t solidify directly into its hexagonal form unless it is nearly 1000 K cooler than the inner core.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 30, 2022
So I think it’s artistic license to suggest that that could nucleate some fireworks.
From The Verge ● Dec. 17, 2021
Dark energy also destabilizes the system and causes universes to nucleate out like raindrops in a cloud.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 6, 2012
In areas that have been collectivized there has been some effort to remove buildings from productive land and to nucleate the villages.
From Area Handbook for Romania by Donald W. Bernier
"Basically, you could have different types of order that get nucleated because of the proximity of these two frustrated lattices," he said.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
Dr Dirk Brandherm and his colleagues have identified more than 600 suspected houses in the Brusselstown Ring making it, to date, the largest nucleated settlement ever discovered in the entirety of prehistoric Britain and Ireland.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2026
But the opposite happened: the ensuing discussion polarized the scientific community and nucleated several high-powered forums, including an international summit held in December in Washington DC.
From Nature ● Dec. 16, 2015
In recent years, scholarly papers have been published on how to test old remains that no longer contain nucleated cells.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 30, 2014
Margulis has summarized the now considerable body of data indicating that the modern nucleated cell was made up, part by part, by the coming together of just such prokaryotic animals.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
"And all of the ice nucleation in nature that is extremely effective seems to be done by proteins, although the size of the individual ice nucleating proteins vary a lot among organisms."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 13, 2023
The quantification of ice nucleating particles and understanding their properties proved to be a cumbersome challenge.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2023
But the thing I would gently push back on is that the notion of a collision nucleating some vast explosion is not at all clear.
From The Verge ● Dec. 17, 2021
The first galaxies probably started out small and disorganized, nucleating around clumps of dark matter, unseen stuff that makes up 85% of the matter of the universe.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 11, 2021
Men are nucleating in a fashion foreboding, but certain.
From A Hero and Some Other Folks by William A. (William Alfred) Quayle
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