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Nucleus   /nˈukliəs/   Listen
noun
Nucleus  n.  (pl. E. nucleuses, L. nuclei)  
1.
A kernel; hence, a central mass or point about which matter is gathered, or to which accretion is made; the central or material portion; used both literally and figuratively. "It must contain within itself a nucleus of truth."
2.
(Astron.) The body or the head of a comet.
3.
(Bot.)
(a)
An incipient ovule of soft cellular tissue.
(b)
A whole seed, as contained within the seed coats.
4.
(Biol.) A body, usually spheroidal, in a eukaryotic cell, distinguished from the surrounding protoplasm by a difference in refrangibility and in behavior towards chemical reagents, which contains the chromosomal genetic material, including the chromosomal DNA. It is more or less protoplasmic, and consists of a clear fluid (achromatin) through which extends a network of fibers (chromatin) in which may be suspended a second rounded body, the nucleolus (see Nucleoplasm). See Cell division, under Division. Note: The nucleus is sometimes termed the endoplast or endoblast, and in the protozoa is supposed to be concerned in the female part of the reproductive process. See Karyokinesis.
5.
(Zool.)
(a)
The tip, or earliest part, of a univalve or bivalve shell.
(b)
The central part around which additional growths are added, as of an operculum.
(c)
A visceral mass, containing the stomach and other organs, in Tunicata and some mollusks.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Nucleus" Quotes from Famous Books



... neighborhood, for five miles round, will know that Comet must stop, if only they understand spoken language,—and, among others, the engineman of Comet will understand it; and Comet will not run into that wreck of worlds which gives the order,—with his nucleus of hot iron and his tail of five hundred tons of coal.—So, of the signals which fog-bells can give, attached to light-houses. How excellent to have them proclaim through the darkness, "I am Wall"! Or of signals for steamship-engineers. When ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 12, October, 1858 • Various

... competitive spirit among the better qualified. By forcing competition with whites "on an individual basis of merit," the Army would become more attractive as a career to superior Negroes, who would provide many needed specialists as a "nucleus for rapid expansion of Army units in ...
— Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 • Morris J. MacGregor Jr.

... nucleolus, or dark spot, in the center of the cell, around which lies a mass of granules, called the nucleus; and this, in turn, is surrounded with a delicate, transparent membrane, termed the envelope. Each of the granules composing the nucleus assimilates nourishment, thereby growing into an independent cell, which possesses a triple organization similar to that of its parent, and in like manner ...
— The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English • R. V. Pierce

... several battalions remained in Hanover for so long a time as to weaken the blow dealt at Paris through Quiberon. This was highly prejudicial to the Breton movement, which would have found in the troops detained in Germany the firm nucleus that was so much needed. Even after the ghastly failure at Quiberon, had the French emigre corps arrived at Spithead at the end of July instead of August, the expedition to the Vendean coast might have ended differently. It is usual to blame Pitt or Dundas for the delay ...
— William Pitt and the Great War • John Holland Rose

... he can do in his own line. You seem to wonder; but if you will get me fairly at it, I'll make a clean breast of it. This cursed business, accursed of God and man, what is it? Strip it of all its ornament, run it down to the root and nucleus of the whole, and what is it? Why, because my brother Quashy is ignorant and weak, and I am intelligent and strong,—because I know how, and can do it,—therefore I may steal all he has, keep it, and give him only such and so ...
— The Negro and the Nation - A History of American Slavery and Enfranchisement • George S. Merriam


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