agglutinate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to unite or cause to adhere, as with glue.
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Immunology. to clump or cause to clump, as bacteria or blood platelets.
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Linguistics. to form by agglutination.
adjective
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united by or as by glue.
verb
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to adhere or cause to adhere, as with glue
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linguistics to combine or be combined by agglutination
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(tr) to cause (bacteria, red blood cells, etc) to clump together
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of agglutinate
1535–45; < Latin agglūtinātus (past participle of agglūtināre ), equivalent to ag- ag- + glūtin- (stem of glūten glue) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When things get stuck or clumped together, they agglutinate. In biology, red blood cells are said to agglutinate when they adhere to each other, forming a mass of cells. There's glue at the heart of agglutinate — it comes from the Latin agglutinare, "fasten with glue." Microbiologists use this word to describe the behavior of cells and particles. Linguistics experts also use this verb: when words or sounds agglutinate, they are strung together to form more complex compound words. In English, one example is shamelessness, which agglutinates shame, less, and ness.
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 urges those who work in it to agglutinate and machinate.
From Economist ● Oct. 27, 2016
Thus, there was something in the serum of immune individuals that could specifically bind to and agglutinate bacteria.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The European Cup is the great promise, the hope, the agglutinate, the objective into which all else is subsumed.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 9, 2013
Waxy when moist, becoming rigid when dry, confluent, agglutinate, radiating.
From The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Its Habitat and its Time of Growth by Miron Elisha Hard
Trichoptera: hairy-winged: insects with hairy primaries with many longitudinal veins and cells, covering the broader secondaries which are usually folded lengthwise; mouth mandibulate but rudimentary: head free; thorax agglutinate: metamorphosis complete.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith
The agglutinated heads represent “all her children,” she added — but also perhaps “her other selves.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
That description applies to far more than one foram… The new squatter has a stark difference from Hospitella – its test is agglutinated, or composed of small particles stuck together.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 12, 2013
Studies by pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and the Zoological Society of London have reported no medicinal value in rhino horn, which, like fingernails, is composed of agglutinated hair and contains proteins like keratin.
From Time ● Jun. 11, 2011
Yet for millennia, these bulky lawn mowers have entranced humans with the agglutinated hair that makes up their horns.
From Time ● Jun. 11, 2011
It is probably a hardened piece of skin, or a mass of agglutinated hairs, in the manner of horn; it comes off with only a slight touch.
From Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals by Harrison Weir
A clammy and agglutinating sweat then occurred over the cranium, the hair became unctuous, stuck together, and appeared distended with an adhesive matter of reddish-brown color, believed by many observers to be sanguineous.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle
“I have gained it from the esoteric stand-point of Christian exegetical analysis; and agglutinating the polsynthetical ectoblasts of homogeneous asceticism, I perceive at once the absolute individuality of this definition.”
From Talkers With Illustrations by John Bate
This substance possesses the power of collecting together in clumps and masses, or agglutinating watery suspensions of that particular microbe.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by J. W. H. (John William Henry) Eyre
There are also numerous verbal formative elements given by McCabe himself, so that Angami must clearly be included in the agglutinating order.
From Man, Past and Present by Alfred Court Haddon
Thus, while the Abkhasian of group 1 is still at the agglutinating, the Lesghian of group 2 has fairly reached the inflecting stage, and the Georgian seems still to waver between the two.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 7 "Geoponici" to "Germany" by Various
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