Adjacent Words

Inoculate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

INOC'ULATE, v.t. [L. inoculo; in and occulus, the eye.]
1. To bud; to insert the bud of a tree or plant in another tree or plant, for the purpose of growth on the new stock. All sorts of stone fruit, apples,pears, etc. may be inoculated. We inoculate the stock with a foreign bud.
2. To communicate a disease to a person by inserting infectious matter in his skin or flesh; as, to inoculate a person with the matter of small pox or cow pox. When the latter disease is communicated, it is called vaccination.
INOC'ULATE, v.i. To propagate by budding; to practice inoculation. The time to inoculate is when the buds are formed at the extremities of the same year's shoot, indicating that the spring growth for that season is complete.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of; "My teachers inoculated me with their beliefs"
2: introduce a microorganism into
3: perform vaccinations or produce immunity in by inoculation; "We vaccinate against scarlet fever"; "The nurse vaccinated the children in the school" [syn: immunize, immunise, inoculate, vaccinate]
4: insert a bud for propagation
5: impregnate with the virus or germ of a disease in order to render immune

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-lated; -lating) Etymology: Middle English, to insert a bud in a plant, from Latin inoculatus, past participle of inoculare, from in- + oculus eye, bud — more at eye Date: 1721 1. a. to introduce a microorganism into <inoculate mice with anthrax> <beans inoculated with nitrogen-fixing bacteria> b. to introduce (as a microorganism) into a suitable situation for growth c. to introduce immunologically active material (as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease <inoculate children against diphtheria> 2. to introduce something into the mind of 3. to protect as if by inoculation Synonyms: see infuse • inoculative adjective • inoculator noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a treat (a person or animal) with a small quantity of the agent of a disease, in the form of vaccine or serum, usu. by injection, to promote immunity against the disease. b implant (a disease) by means of vaccine. 2 instil (a person) with ideas or opinions. Derivatives: inoculable adj. inoculation n. inoculative adj. inoculator n. Etymology: orig. in sense 'insert (a bud) into a plant': L inoculare inoculat- engraft (as IN-(2), oculus eye, bud)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inoculate In*oc"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inoculated; p. pr. & vb. n. Inoculating,.] [L. inoculatus, p. p. of inoculare to ingraft; pref. in- in,on + oculare to furnish with eyes, fr. oculus an eye, also, a bud. See Ocular.] 1. To bud; to insert, or graft, as the bud of a tree or plant in another tree or plant. 2. To insert a foreign bud into; as, to inoculate a tree. 3. (Med.) To communicate a disease to ( a person ) by inserting infectious matter in the skin or flesh; as, to inoculate a person with the virus of smallpox,rabies, etc. See Vaccinate. 4. Fig.: To introduce into the mind; -- used especially of harmful ideas or principles; to imbue; as, to inoculate one with treason or infidelity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Inoculate In*oc"u*late, v. i. 1. To graft by inserting buds. 2. To communicate disease by inoculation.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(inoculates, inoculating, inoculated) To inoculate a person or animal means to inject a weak form of a disease into their body as a way of protecting them against the disease. ...a program to inoculate every child in the state... His dogs were inoculated against rabies. = vaccinate VERB: V n, be V-ed against n • inoculation (inoculations) This may eventually lead to routine inoculation of children... N-VAR: oft N against n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Bud. 2. Vaccinate.

Moby Thesaurus

admit, animate, beat into, brainwash, catechize, condition, ease in, embue, enliven, enter, exhilarate, fire, imbue, immunize, implant, impregnate, impress, inculcate, indoctrinate, infect, infix, inform, infuse, ingrain, inject, insert, insinuate, inspire, inspirit, instill, interject, introduce, intromit, invest, leaven, perfuse, pop in, program, put in, set in, shoot, slip in, spirit, spirit up, steep, stick in, suffuse, throw in, tuck in, vaccinate, whip in