phagocytosisn.
/ˌfaɡəsʌɪˈtəʊsɪs/, U.S. /ˈˌfæɡəˌsaɪˈtoʊsəs/ Biology and Medicine.
The process by which a cell incorporates solid particles (bacteria, other cells, foreign material, etc.).In phagocytosis, the solid particle is surrounded by processes from the cell membrane and then internalized in a phagosome.
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the world > life > biology > biological processes > immunogenesis > [noun] > phagocytosis
phagocytism1888
phagocytosis1890
phagocytability1915
viropexis1948
1890 Lancet 30 Aug. 449/2 Here, too, are discussed such topics as phagocytosis, attenuation, the action of bacteria on the tissues, etc.
1891 Times 13 Aug. 5/2 Dr. Metschnikoff had elaborated and supported by great research his theory of phagocytosis, according to which there was a veritable struggle for existence, a battle à outrance between the cells of the body and the invading micro-organisms.
1937 E. E. Hewer Text-bk. Histol. 7 This property of phagocytosis is shown by the blood leukocytes, osteoclasts, and all the histiocyte cells scattered throughout the body.
1970 Times Lit. Suppl. 23 Oct. 1221/2 Amoebocytes..tend to be of variable shape and to engulf particles in their environment by the process of phagocytosis.
1986 S. M. Hinchliff Teaching Clin. Nursing (ed. 2) 137 Photography via the microscope enables everyone to see the same view, and minute movements, e.g. phagocytosis of a bacterium by a white blood cell can be seen in motion.
2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. ii. 112 Prokaryotes invented most of the basic ways of feeding (all except phagocytosis, the wholesale engulfing of one cell by another, which seems to be a eukaryote innovation).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1890