contractile
capable of contracting or causing contraction.
Origin of contractile
1Other words from contractile
- con·trac·til·i·ty [kon-trak-til-i-tee], /ˌkɒn trækˈtɪl ɪ ti/, noun
- un·con·trac·tile, adjective
Words Nearby contractile
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use contractile in a sentence
Now, researchers have gotten up-close views of these syringes, technically known as contractile injection systems, from a type of cyanobacteria and a marine bacterium.
New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes | Tina Hesman Saey | March 30, 2022 | Science NewsBut, “just by looking at the genes, it’s quite hard to predict how these contractile injection systems work,” says Gregor Weiss, a cellular structural biologist at ETH Zurich.
New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes | Tina Hesman Saey | March 30, 2022 | Science NewsWaste nitrogenous products formed within the cell when work is done are passed out by means of the contractile vacuole.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterIn another one-celled animal called vorticella, part of the cell has become elongated and is contractile.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterThe body of the Uterus is formed of a very dense, gray colored, muscular substance, possessing astonishing contractile power.
The supple and contractile segments of the chrysalis serve for the limbs which are wanting to it.
The Insect World | Louis FiguierRostrif′era, a suborder of gasteropods, with contractile rostrum or snout.
British Dictionary definitions for contractile
/ (kənˈtræktaɪl) /
having the power to contract or to cause contraction
Derived forms of contractile
- contractility (ˌkɒntrækˈtɪlɪtɪ), noun
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
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