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enucleate

[verb ih-noo-klee-eyt, ih-nyoo-; adjective ih-noo-klee-it, -eyt, ih-nyoo-]
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verb (used with object), e·nu·cle·at·ed, e·nu·cle·at·ing.
  1. Biology. to deprive of the nucleus.
  2. to remove (a kernel, tumor, eyeball, etc.) from its enveloping cover.
  3. Archaic. to bring out; disclose; explain.
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adjective
  1. having no nucleus.
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Origin of enucleate

1540–50; < Latin ēnucleātus (past participle of ēnucleāre to remove the pit from (fruit)), equivalent to ē- e-1 + nucle(us) nucleus + -ātus -ate1
Related formse·nu·cle·a·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for enucleate

Historical Examples

  • Associated words: enucleate, enucleation, exacinate, exacination.

    Putnam's Word Book

    Louis A. Flemming

  • Associated words: scleroid, enucleate, enucleation, inenucleable.

    Putnam's Word Book

    Louis A. Flemming

  • In the present imperfect state of knowledge it may be impossible to enucleate miracle, however defined, of all mystery.

  • I suspect that this error must at first have arisen from some confusion between to eliminate and to enucleate.

  • Under these circumstances it is better to leave it alone, or, if it be causing signs of irritation, to enucleate the eye.

British Dictionary definitions for enucleate

enucleate

verb (ɪˈnjuːklɪˌeɪt) (tr)
  1. biology to remove the nucleus from (a cell)
  2. surgery to remove (a tumour or other structure) from its capsule without rupturing it
  3. archaic to explain or disclose
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adjective (ɪˈnjuːklɪɪt, -ˌeɪt)
  1. (of cells) deprived of their nuclei
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Derived Formsenucleation, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Latin ēnūcleāre to remove the kernel, from nūcleus kernel
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
enucleate in Medicine

enucleate

(ĭ-nōō′klē-āt′)
v.
  1. To remove something, such as a tumor or an eye, whole and without rupture from an enveloping cover or sac.
  2. To remove the nucleus of a cell.
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adj.
  1. Lacking a nucleus.
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Related formse•nu′cle•a′tion n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.