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embed

[verb em-bed; noun em-bed]
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verb (used with object), em·bed·ded, em·bed·ding.
  1. to fix into a surrounding mass: to embed stones in cement.
  2. to surround tightly or firmly; envelop or enclose: Thick cotton padding embedded the precious vase in its box.
  3. to incorporate or contain as an essential part or characteristic: A love of color is embedded in all of her paintings.
  4. Histology. to infiltrate (a biological tissue) with molten paraffin or other plastic material that later solidifies, enabling the preparation to be sliced very thin for viewing under a microscope.
  5. Mathematics. to map a set into another set.
  6. Grammar. to insert (a construction, as a phrase or clause) into a larger construction, as a clause or sentence.
  7. to assign (a journalist) to travel with a military unit or a political campaign: The photojournalists were embedded in Afghanistan with U.S. troops. We've embedded a reporter with each of the presidential candidates.
  8. Digital Technology. to place (text, images, sound, or computer code) in a computer file, HTML document, software program, or electronic device: how to embed videos on your website; embedded software in cars and airplanes.
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verb (used without object), em·bed·ded, em·bed·ding.
  1. to be or become fixed or incorporated, as into a surrounding mass: Glass embeds in the soft tar of the road.
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noun
  1. a journalist who is embedded with a military unit or a political campaign.
  2. a period of time during which a journalist is embedded.
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Also imbed.

Origin of embed

First recorded in 1770–80; em-1 + bed
Related formsem·bed·ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for embedment

Historical Examples

  • My brother appeared to be aroused by the shock, struggling about in his embedment, and finally sat up.

    Disowned

    Victor Endersby

  • It concerns the anchorage of rods by the embedment of a few inches of their length in concrete.

  • Above the centroid of compression there is nothing but a trifling amount of embedment of the stirrup.

British Dictionary definitions for embedment

embed

imbed

verb -beds, -bedding or -bedded
  1. (usually foll by in) to fix or become fixed firmly and deeply in a surrounding solid massto embed a nail in wood
  2. (tr) to surround closelyhard rock embeds the roots
  3. (tr) to fix or retain (a thought, idea, etc) in the mind
  4. (often foll by with) to assign a journalist or be assigned as one to accompany an active military unit
  5. (tr) grammar to insert (a subordinate clause) into a sentence
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noun (ˈɪmbɛd)
  1. a journalist accompanying an active military unit
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Derived Formsembedment, 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

Word Origin and History for embedment

embed

v.

1778, from em- + bed (n.). Originally a geological term, in reference to fossils in rock; figurative sense is from 1835; meaning "place a journalist within a military unit at war" is 2003. Related: Embedded; embedding.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper