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Synonyms

dehisce

American  
[dih-his] / dɪˈhɪs /

verb (used without object)

dehisced, dehiscing
  1. to burst open, as capsules of plants; gape.


dehisce British  
/ dɪˈhɪs /

verb

  1. (intr) (of fruits, anthers, etc) to burst open spontaneously, releasing seeds, pollen, etc

"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 dehisce

1650–60; < Latin dēhiscere to gape, part, equivalent to dē- de- + hiscere to gape, yawn ( hi ( āre ) to yawn + -scere inchoative suffix)

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:

Canes slender, dark brown, heavily pubescent; tendrils continuous, bifid, dehisce early.

From Manual of American Grape-Growing by U. P. Hedrick

In some Leguminosae, as Arachis, Cathartocarpus Fistula and the tamarind, the fruit must be considered a legume, although it does not dehisce.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

The small anthers borne by the short stamens of the female flowers are well formed and dehisce properly, but I could never find in them a single grain of pollen.

From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Charles Darwin

From these masses of ova dehisce into the body cavity and float in its fluid.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

The formation and growth of the asci and sporidia differ little from what we have described, and when mature the asci dehisce, and the sporidia alone are ejected from the ostiolum.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

Mr. Blackley observed that the ripe anthers of rye did not dehisce whilst kept under a bell-glass in a damp atmosphere, whilst other anthers exposed to the same temperature in the open air dehisced freely.

From Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom by Charles Darwin

I suspect also that the pistil goes on growing for some time after the anthers have dehisced.

From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Charles Darwin

They protruded two very large much-branched panicles; but the florets never opened, though these included fully developed stigmas, and stamens supported on long filaments with large anthers that dehisced properly.

From The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species by Charles Darwin

Capsule large, distinctly pedicelled, dehiscing by 4–8 revolute segments.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

Capsule distinctly pedicelled, oblong-globose, dehiscing by 4–6 irregular valves.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

From the young to the matured dehiscing plant.

From The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Its Habitat and its Time of Growth by Miron Elisha Hard

Fruit dehiscing and exposing one of the three seeds.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8 "Ethiopia" to "Evangelical Association" by Various

Perisporiacei.—Except in the perithecia rupturing irregularly, and not dehiscing by a pore, some of the genera in this group differ little in structure from the Sphæriacei.

From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke

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