agglutinate

views updated Jun 11 2018

ag·glu·ti·nate / əˈgloōtnˌāt/ • v. firmly stick or be stuck together to form a mass. ∎  Biol. (with reference to bacteria or red blood cells) clump together: [tr.] these strains agglutinate human red cells| [intr.] cell fragments agglutinate and form intricate meshes. ∎  [tr.] Linguistics combine (simple words or parts of words) without change of form to express compound ideas.DERIVATIVES: ag·glu·ti·na·tion / əˌgloōtnˈāshən/ n.

agglutinate

views updated May 08 2018

agglutinate A constituent of lunar soils comprising glass-bonded aggregates, which consist of glasses and rock and mineral fragments welded together by glass. These aggregates form during the impact of micrometeorites into lunar soils. Their abundance in a lunar soil is an index of exposure to micrometeorite bombardment, and hence to soil maturity. The average size of agglutinates in mature soils varies, but tends toward a mean of 60 μm.

agglutinate

views updated Jun 27 2018

agglutinate unite as with glue. XVI. f. pp. stem of L. agglutināre, f. AG- + glūten GLUE; see -ATE3.
So agglutination XVI, agglutinative XVII.

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