Adjacent Words

Yolk definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

YOLK, n.
1. The yelk of an egg. [See Yelk.]
2. The unctuous secretion from the skin of sheep, which renders the pile soft and pliable.
3. The vitellus, a part of the seed of plants, so named by Gaertner, from its supposed analogy with the yelk of an egg. It is characterized as very firmly and inseparably connected with the embryo, yet never rising out of the integuments of the seed in germination, but absorbed, like the albumen, (see White and Perisperm,) for the nourishment of the embryo. When the albumen is present, it is always situated between it and the embryo. In the grasses it forms a scale between the embryo and albumen. It is considered by Smith as a subterraneous cotyledon.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the yellow spherical part of an egg that is surrounded by the albumen [syn: egg yolk, yolk]
2: nutritive material of an ovum stored for the nutrition of an embryo (especially the yellow mass of a bird or reptile egg) [syn: yolk, vitellus]

Merriam Webster's

also yoke noun Etymology: Middle English yolke, from Old English geoloca, from geolu yellow — more at yellow Date: before 12th century 1. a. the yellow spheroidal mass of stored food that forms the inner portion of the egg of a bird or reptile and is surrounded by the white — see egg illustration b. archaic the whole contents of an animal ovum consisting of a protoplasmic formative portion and an inert nutritive portion c. material stored in an animal ovum that supplies food to the developing embryo and consists chiefly of proteins, lecithin, and cholesterol 2. [akin to Middle Dutch ieke yolk (of wool), Old English ?owu ewe] oily material in unprocessed sheep wool consisting of wool fat, suint, and debris • yolked adjective • yolky adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 the yellow internal part of an egg that nourishes the young before it hatches. 2 Biol. the corresponding part of any animal ovum. Phrases and idioms: yolk-bag (or -sac) a membrane enclosing the yolk of an egg. Derivatives: yolked adj. (also in comb.). yolkless adj. yolky adj. Etymology: OE geol(o)ca f. geolu YELLOW 2. n. = SUINT. Etymology: OE eowoca (unrecorded)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Yolk Yolk (y[=o]lk or y[=o]k; 277), n. [OE. yolke, yelke, [yogh]olke, [yogh]elke, AS. geoloca, geoleca, fr. geolu yellow. See Yellow.] [Written also yelk.] 1. The yellow part of an egg; the vitellus. 2. (Zo["o]l.) An oily secretion which naturally covers the wool of sheep. Yolk cord (Zo["o]l.), a slender cord or duct which connects the yolk glands with the egg chambers in certain insects, as in the aphids. Yolk gland (Zo["o]l.), a special organ which secretes the yolk of the eggs in many turbellarians, and in some other invertebrates. See Illust. of Hermaphrodite in Appendix. Yolk sack (Anat.), the umbilical vesicle. See under Unbilical.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(yolks) The yolk of an egg is the yellow part in the middle. Only the yolk contains cholesterol. ...buttered toast dipped in egg yolk. N-VAR

Foolish Dictionary

The legacy of the hen and the burden of its lay.