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holocrine

American  
[hol-uh-krin, -krahyn, hoh-luh-] / ˈhɒl ə krɪn, -ˌkraɪn, ˈhoʊ lə- /

adjective

  1. (of a gland) releasing a secretion that is a product of disintegrating cells.

  2. (of a secretion) released by such a gland.

holocrine British  
/ ˈhɒləkrɪn /

adjective

  1. (of the secretion of glands) characterized by disintegration of the entire glandular cell in releasing its product, as in sebaceous glands Compare merocrine apocrine

"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 holocrine

1900–05; holo- + -crine < Greek krī́nein to separate

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.