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Showing results for "embedded"
  • past participle of embed.
  • past tense form of embed.
Synonyms

embedded

American  
[em-bed-id] / ɛmˈbɛd ɪd /
Sometimes imbedded

adjective

  1. fixed or snugly enclosed in a surrounding mass.

    The young turtles are weighed, measured, and tagged with an embedded microchip before being released back into the salt marsh.

  2. incorporated into something as an essential characteristic.

    In any cultural context, deeply embedded values and attitudes can be difficult to change.

    1. being or relating to a journalist assigned to travel with a military unit or political campaign.

      He was an embedded reporter with the First Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq.

    2. working closely with a group or participating in a special event as an invited expert, creative professional, etc..

      As Radio 3’s first embedded composer, he is writing one new piece of music a week for the breakfast show.

  3. Digital Technology. (of text, images, sound, or code) placed in a computer file, HTML document, software program, or electronic device.

    Click here or watch the embedded video below to learn more about the work of our Foundation.

  4. Grammar. (of a construction, as a phrase or clause) inserted into a larger construction, as a clause or sentence.

    Informative texts often include unfamiliar technical vocabulary and complex sentences with embedded clauses.

  5. Histology. (of biological tissue) infiltrated with melted paraffin or other such material that later solidifies, enabling the preparation to be sliced very thin for viewing under a microscope (sometimes used in combination).

    The fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues were cut into sections 5 μm thick and mounted on glass slides.


verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of embed.

Etymology

Origin of embedded

embed ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

Explanation

The adjective embedded describes something that is encased in a surrounding substance. On a walking tour of Fredericksburg, Virginia, you can see buildings with embedded Civil War cannonballs. Embedded also means to insert as part of a whole. In wartime, embedded journalists are stationed with military units so that they can make first-hand reports on the news, and so that viewers can have a more in-depth understanding of issues facing the soldiers. This use arose during the Iraq war in 2003. Embedded comes from the verb embed, which originally applied to materials embedded in rocks, such as fossils.

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Vocabulary lists containing embedded

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:

In our new paper, we used the first full three-dimensional simulations of the primordial plasma with magnetic fields embedded in it, tracking how hydrogen forms.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

Many come from across southern Africa, including the kingdom of Lesotho which is embedded within South Africa.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Since the 1990s, many towns in countries across Europe, including in Germany and Austria, have embedded small brass plaques in the streets in memory of Jews and other victims of Nazi atrocities.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

My family would be the other journalists embedded with me in military zones.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

When Bitter told Jam that the angels must have had to do dark things, hard things, Jam had thought of Hibiscus and the way his eyes sometimes looked like sad stones embedded in his head.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi

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