circumscissile

American

[sur-kuhm-sis-il] / ˌsɜr kəmˈsɪs ɪl /

adjective

Botany.

opening along a transverse circular line, as a seed vessel.

circumscissile British

/ ˌsɜːkəmˈsɪsaɪl /

adjective

(of the dry dehiscent fruits of certain plants) opening completely by a transverse split

"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

Etymology

Origin of circumscissile

First recorded in 1825–35; circum- + scissile

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.

Leaves as in the last, but paler and thinner; spikes long and thin, attenuate at the apex; sepals oblong, acutely carinate; capsules cylindraceous-oblong, circumscissile much below the middle, 4–9-seeded; seeds oval-oblong, not reticulated.

From Project Gutenberg

Capsule nearly sessile, irregularly circumscissile.

From Project Gutenberg

Capsule filling the involucre, circumscissile in the middle, the calyptra persistent at its base.

From Project Gutenberg

Smooth or rather hairy, rarely roughish; leaves ovate, oblong, oval, or slightly heart-shaped, often toothed, abruptly narrowed into a channelled petiole; spike dense, obtuse; sepals round-ovate or obovate; capsule ovoid, circumscissile near the middle, 8–18-seeded; seeds angled, reticulated.—Waysides and near dwellings everywhere.

From Project Gutenberg

Fruit a circumscissile 2-celled capsule, with one or more peltate seeds in each cell, or an achene.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023