ovule
Americannoun
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Botany.
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a rudimentary seed.
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the plant part that contains the embryo sac and hence the female germ cell, which after fertilization develops into a seed.
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Biology. a small egg.
noun
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a small body in seed-bearing plants that consists of the integument(s), nucellus, and embryosac (containing the egg cell) and develops into the seed after fertilization
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zoology an immature ovum
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The female reproductive structure that develops into a seed in a seed-bearing plant. An ovule consists of a megasporangium surrounded by one or two layers of tissue called integuments. The megasporangium produces spores that develop into megagametophytes. These megagametophytes remain within the tissues of the ovule and produce one or more egg cells. Sperm from pollen grains enter the ovule through an opening called a micropyle and fertilize the egg cells. The resulting embryo then begins to develop within the ovule, which becomes a seed. Among the conifers and cycads, the ovules are typically found in pairs on scales in the female cones. The ovules of angiosperms are contained in a structure called the ovary within in the flower.
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See more at flower gametophyte megasporogenesis pollination
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ovule
First recorded in 1820–30, ovule is from the Latin word ōvulum little egg. See ovum, -ule
Vocabulary lists containing ovule
Plants (Botany) - Middle School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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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.
The tube extends through the style and into the ovary, allowing sperm cells to reach the egg and central cells in an ovule for fertilization.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
In addition to the 45-minute blocking process that prevents multiple sperm from fertilizing the same ovule, a repulsion signal also directs rejected suitors towards other unpaired ovules.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
Part B shows a blowup of the megasprophyll, which has an oval ovule at its base.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
When a pollen grain reaches the stigma, a pollen tube extends from the grain, grows down the style, and enters through the micropyle: an opening in the integuments of the ovule.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015
The female flower is enveloped in a closely fitting sac-like investment, which must be regarded as a perianth; within this is an orthotropous ovule surrounded by a single integument prolonged upwards as a beak-like micropyle.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various
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.
