vesicle
a small sac or cyst.
Biology. a small bladderlike cavity, especially one filled with fluid.
Pathology. a circumscribed elevation of the epidermis containing serous fluid; blister.
Geology. a small, usually spherical cavity in a rock or mineral, formed by expansion of a gas or vapor before the enclosing body solidified.
Origin of vesicle
1Words Nearby vesicle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use vesicle in a sentence
They’ve done this by creating gas vesicles that, when you ping them with ultrasound, audibly pop—just like those in microbes going for a dive.
Scientists genetically engineered prehistoric proteins to detect diseases | Claire Maldarelli | August 16, 2021 | Popular-ScienceWhat makes gas vesicles especially exciting is that, when you ping them with sound waves—in particular, ultrasound, which is too high-pitched for human ears to hear—they ring back with a signal.
Scientists genetically engineered prehistoric proteins to detect diseases | Claire Maldarelli | August 16, 2021 | Popular-ScienceFor several years now, Shapiro’s group has been inserting the DNA for gas vesicles into cells and fine-tuning them.
Scientists genetically engineered prehistoric proteins to detect diseases | Claire Maldarelli | August 16, 2021 | Popular-ScienceWhen you’re ready to return to the depths, just pop a few gas vesicles like balloons, and you’ll sink back down.
Scientists genetically engineered prehistoric proteins to detect diseases | Claire Maldarelli | August 16, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThanks to that ability, the gene responsible for allowing microbes to create gas vesicles is what researchers call a reporter gene.
Scientists genetically engineered prehistoric proteins to detect diseases | Claire Maldarelli | August 16, 2021 | Popular-Science
Now, this vesicle is invariably tinged with a different hue from the rest of the being.
Colouration in Animals and Plants | Alfred TylorDo we not witness in the newly formed vaccine vesicle, an increase of the specific force and principle?
The interest in the terminal vesicle lies in the possibility of its being some rudimentary structure.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 | Francis Maitland BalfourIt begins to do so close to the terminal vesicle, which, however, still remains as or more conspicuous than it was before.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 | Francis Maitland BalfourThe result of segmentation is a vesicle whose wall is formed of a single layer of cells.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume 1 | Francis Maitland Balfour
British Dictionary definitions for vesicle
/ (ˈvɛsɪkəl) /
pathol
any small sac or cavity, esp one containing serous fluid
a blister
geology a rounded cavity within a rock formed during solidification by expansion of the gases present in the magma
botany a small bladder-like cavity occurring in certain seaweeds and aquatic plants
any small cavity or cell
Origin of vesicle
1Derived forms of vesicle
- vesicular (vɛˈsɪkjʊlə), adjective
- vesicularly, adverb
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
Scientific definitions for vesicle
[ vĕs′ĭ-kəl ]
A small fluid-filled sac in the body.
A membrane-bound sac in eukaryotic cells that stores or transports the products of metabolism in the cell and is sometimes the site for the breaking down of metabolic wastes. Vesicles bulge out and break off from the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. Vesicles get their energy for mobility from ATP. Lysosomes and peroxisomes are vesicles.
A small cavity formed in volcanic rock by entrapment of a gas bubble during solidification.
Other words from vesicle
- vesicular adjective (vĕ-sĭk′yə-lər, və-)
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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