entrain
1 Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb (used with object)
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Chemistry. (of a substance, as a vapor) to carry along (a dissimilar substance, as drops of liquid) during a given process, as evaporation or distillation.
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(of a liquid) to trap (bubbles).
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Meteorology. to transfer (air) into an organized air current from the surrounding atmosphere (detrain ).
verb
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(of a liquid or gas) to carry along (drops of liquid, bubbles, etc), as in certain distillations
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to disperse (air bubbles) through concrete in order to increase its resistance to frost
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zoology to adjust (an internal rhythm of an organism) so that it synchronizes with an external cycle, such as that of light and dark
verb
Other Word Forms
- entrainer noun
- entrainment noun
Etymology
Origin of entrain1
First recorded in 1880–85; en- 1 + train
Origin of entrain2
First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle French entrainer, equivalent to en- verb prefix + trainer “to drag, trail”; en- 1, train
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.
Partial melting of the mantle releases CO2 that becomes entrained in hydrothermal fluid, reacts with the mantle closer to the seafloor, and is captured there.
From Science Daily
The colossus is presently entrained in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the great sweep of water that circles the continent in a clockwise direction.
From BBC
“Language entrains us into these systems, one set of categories versus another.”
From Scientific American
"The cilia at a border region take the role as a pacemaker which entrain other cilia one after another," Hickey summarizes the findings.
From Science Daily
The counterclockwise-spinning low is entraining a filament of rich air from the Central Pacific thousands of miles to the southwest.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
