follicle
/ˈfɒlɪk(ə)l
/noun
1 Anatomy A small secretory cavity, sac, or gland, in particular:Associated with the follicle are sebaceous glands and the arrector pili smooth muscle fiber bundle....
- These drugs penetrate the follicle and sebaceous gland well and decrease colonization by P. acnes.
- Then, a fluidfilled space develops, to form the antrum of a tertiary follicle.
1.1 (also hair follicle) The sheath of cells and connective tissue which surrounds the root of a hair.But with first-time waxers, the hair follicle is often surrounded by something similar to a whitehead, so when you rip it out it can cause a bit of bleeding....
- The cells that supply the hair follicle remain active, so the potential for re-growth is always there.
- Folliculitis presents with a subcorneal pustule in the opening of a hair follicle, with surrounding neutrophilic infiltrate.
1.2 short for Graafian follicle.In most normal human menstrual cycles only one follicle reaches full maturity, to be released at ovulation, on about day 14....
- The ovary consists of a cortical zone composed of a specialized stroma, which contains follicles with ova.
- De Graaf, working without the aid of a microscope, made the error of thinking that the fluid-filled follicles were the ova themselves.
2 Botany A dry fruit that is derived from a single carpel and opens on one side only to release its seeds.The fruits produced by these partially emasculated flowers were single follicles and contained relatively few seeds....
- A fruit may consist of a single follicle or two joined follicles.
- The three fruits that were formed by flowers in the emasculation treatment were single follicles.
Derivatives
follicular
/ adjective ...- Evidence suggests the drug will double the re-mission time of patients diagnosed with follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
- It also appears that she is meticulously adept at removing unwanted follicular effluents.
- I set off clubbing in a confident mood, now colour co-ordinated in both the sartorial and follicular departments.
follicularly
- She towers over her husband ethically and intellectually (not to mention follicularly).
- We all know sweet Ben is follicularly challenged, and we all support him in fighting the terrible disease of baldness.
folliculate
- This finely folliculate white structure is loosely surrounded by a thin reticulated black epithelium.
folliculated
/ adjective ...- Electrolysis is fairly effective, but it has to be done one hair at a time, and for a large, densely folliculated area, that calculates roughly to eternity.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin folliculus 'little bag', diminutive of follis 'bellows'.
Rhymes
- prose fiction
- proseity
- proselytation
- proselyte
- proselyter
- proselytess
- proselytical
- proselytise
- proselytism
- proselytist
- proselytistic
- proselytization
- proselytize
- proselytizer
- proseman
- prose master
- proseminar
- proseminary
- prosencephalic
- prosencephalon
- prosenchyma
- prosenchymatous
- proseology
- prose poem
- prose poet