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invaginate

American  
[in-vaj-uh-neyt, in-vaj-uh-nit, -neyt] / ɪnˈvædʒ əˌneɪt, ɪnˈvædʒ ə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

invaginated, invaginating
  1. to insert or receive, as into a sheath; sheathe.

  2. to fold or draw (a tubular organ) back within itself; intussuscept.


verb (used without object)

invaginated, invaginating
  1. to become invaginated; undergo invagination.

  2. to form a pocket by turning in.

adjective

  1. folded or turned back upon itself.

  2. sheathed.

invaginate British  

verb

  1. pathol to push one section of (a tubular organ or part) back into itself so that it becomes ensheathed; intussuscept

  2. (intr) (of the outer layer of an organism or part) to undergo invagination

"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

adjective

  1. (of an organ or part) folded back upon itself

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of invaginate

1650–60; < Medieval Latin invāgīnātus, past participle of invāgīnāre to sheathe. See in- 2, vaginate

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:

The oligomers cause the nuclei to fold in on themselves, or "invaginate," disrupting the genetic material contained within.

From Science Daily Dec. 21, 2023

Such a gastrula, formed mainly by overgrowth of the epiblast, is called an epibolic gastrula, as distinguished from the invaginate gastrula of amphioxus.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

The researchers found that patients with Alzheimer's disease had twice as many invaginated nuclei as people without the condition.

From Science Daily Dec. 21, 2023

The invaginated section, with the pathogen inside, then pinches itself off from the plasma membrane and becomes a vesicle.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

Each lung is surrounded by an invaginated sac.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

The function of this pouch is to form the spermatophore, which is an elastic tube formed of structureless secretion and invaginated into itself.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 6 "Celtes, Konrad" to "Ceramics" by Various

Like the Floscule, the Stephanoceros is readily alarmed, and retreats into her house, carrying with her the invaginated portion.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Henry J. Slack

Further cell-divisions occur, and the invagination becomes deeper, until the invaginating wall nearly touches the wall which has retained its primitive position.

From The Biological Problem of To-day Preformation Or Epigenesis? The Basis of a Theory of Organic Development by Oscar Hertwig

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