invaginate

American  

[in-vaj-uh-neyt, in-vaj-uh-nit, -neyt] / ɪnˈvædʒ əˌneɪt, ɪnˈvædʒ ə nɪt, -ˌneɪt /

verb (used with object)

invaginated, invaginating

1. to insert or receive, as into a sheath; sheathe.

2. to fold or draw (a tubular organ) back within itself; intussuscept.

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verb (used without object)

invaginated, invaginating

1. to become invaginated; undergo invagination.

2. to form a pocket by turning in.

adjective

1. folded or turned back upon itself.

2. sheathed.

invaginate British  

verb

1. pathol to push one section of (a tubular organ or part) back into itself so that it becomes ensheathed; intussuscept

2. (intr) (of the outer layer of an organism or part) to undergo invagination

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adjective

1. (of an organ or part) folded back upon itself

Other Word Forms

• invaginable adjective
• uninvaginated adjective

Etymology

Origin of invaginate

1650–60; < Medieval Latin invāgīnātus, past participle of invāgīnāre to sheathe. See in- ², vaginate

Example Sentences

The oligomers cause the nuclei to fold in on themselves, or "invaginate," disrupting the genetic material contained within.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

Such a gastrula, formed mainly by overgrowth of the epiblast, is called an epibolic gastrula, as distinguished from the invaginate gastrula of amphioxus.

From Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)