abscission
Americannoun
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the act of cutting off; sudden termination.
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Botany. the normal separation of flowers, fruit, and leaves from plants.
noun
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the separation of leaves, branches, flowers, and bark from plants by the formation of an abscission layer
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the act of cutting off
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The separation of a leaf, flower, or fruit from a plant as a result of natural structural and chemical changes.
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◆ The abscission zone is a layer of weak, thin-walled cells that form across the base of the plant part where the break eventually occurs. A corky layer containing suberin forms beneath the abscission zone to protect the plant.
Etymology
Origin of abscission
First recorded in 1605–15, abscission is from the Latin word abscissiōn- (stem of abscissiō ). See abscissa, -ion
Explanation
Abscission means the cutting off or removal of something, like an unsightly mole on the chin. You can remember that abscission is all about cutting when you see how close it looks to the word scissors. If you are a public speaker who habitually cuts yourself off, your speeches may suffer from abscission. If you’re wounded in the leg in battle and gangrene sets in, you will be faced with the abscission of a limb. Layoffs at work are the abscission of workers.
Vocabulary lists containing abscission
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.
The leaves that aren’t dropped from a tree, though, don’t develop abscission layers at all.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2023
The tree produces less of a chemical called auxin, and that drop in auxin contributes to a weakening of tissue at the leaf stem’s base, creating what’s known as an abscission layer.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2023
“The restriction of ethylene’s destructive effects only to cells in the abscission zone illustrates the precise control plants exercise over their hormone systems,” Capon wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 2, 2022
However, more recent studies indicate that ABA plays only a minor role in the abscission process.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
From M. Guizot Val Richer, March 4th.—Your sad predictions were well founded; the painful abscission has been made; we bore it at least with good sense and dignity.
From Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Henry Reeve, C.B., D.C.L. In Two Volumes. Volume II. by Laughton, John Knox
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
