Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A membrane-bound organelle in the cytoplasm of most cells, especially plant cells, containing water and dissolved substances such as salts, sugars, enzymes, and amino acids.
- noun A small extracellular cavity or space within tissues.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A minute cell or cavity in the tissue of organisms.
- noun In anatomy, a minute space, vacuity, or interstice of tissue in which lymphatic vessels are supposed to originate.
- noun In zoology, any minute vesicle or vacuity in the tissue of a protozoan, as an amœba.
- noun In botany, a cavity of greater or less size within the protoplasmic mass of active vegetable cells, which is filled with water, or cell-sap as it is called.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Biol.) A small air cell, or globular space, in the interior of organic cells, either containing air, or a pellucid watery liquid, or some special chemical secretions of the cell protoplasm.
- noun (Zoöl.) See under
Contractile , and seeIllusts . ofInfusoria , andLobosa . - noun (Zoöl.) See under
Food , and seeIllust. ofInfusoria .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun cytology A large
membrane -boundvesicle in acell 'scytoplasm .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a tiny cavity filled with fluid in the cytoplasm of a cell
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In the higher plants, at least, a nucleus occurs embedded in it; a watery liquid holding salts and saccharine substances in solution fills the space called the vacuole, inclosed by the protoplasm.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 623, December 10, 1887 Various
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The protoplasm is more or less extensively excavated by fluid spaces, vacuoles; one clearer circular space or vacuole, which is invariably present, appears at intervals, enlarges gradually, and then vanishes abruptly, to reappear after a brief interval; this is called the contractile vacuole (c.v.).
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As water evaporates out of the cell, the cell draws more water into the vacuole from other cells deeper inside the tree.
O Tannenbaum ewillett 2009
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But it's a 6-brane vacuole, and at the press of a button, it's a year later.
Who Do You Say I Am 2010
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The 76th amino acid may contribute to the PfCRT's function as a CQR determinant in P. falciparum by virtue of its effect on the CQ transport activity across the food vacuole membrane.
Behe Responds 2007
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Mutations in the P. falciparum digestive vacuole transmmembrane proteins PfCRT and evidence for their role in cholorquine resistance.
Behe Responds 2007
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Ciliates have permanent contractile vacuole pathways and pores where amoebas will release them from any point along the surface of its body.
Protozoa 2008
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They wrap themselves around the food particle and once enclosed it is embedded within a food vacuole for digestion.
Protozoa 2008
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In fact, the parasite itself grabs the drug and concentrates it ten-thousand-fold in its digestive vacuole.
The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007
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Mutations in the P. falciparum digestive vacuole transmembrane protein PfCRT and evidence for their role in chloroquine resistance.
The Edge of Evolution Michael J. Behe 2007
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