reticulate
Americanadjective
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netted; covered with a network.
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Botany. having the veins or nerves disposed like the threads of a net.
verb (used with object)
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to form into a network.
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to cover or mark with a network.
verb (used without object)
adjective
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in the form of a network or having a network of parts
a reticulate leaf
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resembling, covered with, or having the form of a net
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reticulate
1650–60; < Latin rēticulātus net-like, equivalent to rēticul ( um ) reticle + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To reticulate is to form a type of net or network. Reticulating is an activity that creates a net or network. Linking a group of computers into a shared network reticulates them. A spider spinning a web is doing a form of reticulating. A businessperson making connections with many colleagues is reticulating by creating a social network with them. The key to any form of reticulating is that it makes connections: it links people or things in a type of net.
Vocabulary lists containing reticulate
"The Deep," Vocabulary from the short story
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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 4
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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.
See Examples For:
"For decades, the question of how reticulate veins form has remained open, and finally we have a plausible answer" in Chinese money plants' Voronoi patterns.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
Monocots have leaves with parallel venation and dicot leaves have reticulate, net-like venation.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
In dicots, however, the veins of the leaf have a net-like appearance, forming a pattern known as reticulate venation.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
A leaf has reticulate venation whereas leaflets show parallel venation.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
In general, specimens from western México have reticulate mottling on the flanks as compared with the marbling on the flanks in specimens from eastern México.
From A Review of the Frogs of the Hyla bistincta Group by William E. Duellman
The African habitat - which was built in 2001 - is home to reticulated giraffes, maneless zebra, white rhino, ostrich, crowned crane and a greater kudu.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2025
On Thursday, the Great Plains Zoo and Butterfly House & Aquarium in Sioux Falls announced the death of Chioke, an 18-year-old reticulated giraffe.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
Genetic studies have found that giraffe DNA falls into four distinct clusters: the Northern giraffe, the reticulated giraffe, the Masai giraffe and the Southern giraffe.
From New York Times ● Feb. 19, 2024
Kendi means ‘loved one’ in Swahili, paying homage to the language spoken in Kenya, where reticulated giraffes can be found in the wild.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 23, 2023
A reticulated chrome walkway emerged from the pool’s edge and arched over the water to reach the island.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Cardono's keen black eyes, twinkling hither and thither, a myriad crows' feet reticulating out from their corners like spiders' webs, took in the landscape, and every object in it.
From The Firebrand by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett
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.
