Meaning & use
invagination
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountablebiology
The folding inward of a sheet or layer of tissue so that it forms a pocket or hollow, as in a developing embryo.
Grammar: Used in biology: the invagination of the cell wall.
Patterns
- invagination of something
- invagination into something
Invagination of the cell layer produces the gut of the early embryo.
The membrane's invagination formed a small pocket.
Scientists watched the invagination happen under the microscope.
nouncountablemedical
A medical condition in which one part of the intestine slides inside the part next to it.
Grammar: Usually called intussusception in clinical practice.
Patterns
- invagination of the bowel
The infant was rushed to hospital with an intestinal invagination.
An ultrasound confirmed the invagination.
Word forms
| plural | invaginations |
|---|
Common combinations
- membrane invagination
- Membrane invagination lets a cell take in outside material.
- intestinal invagination
- Intestinal invagination in a baby is a medical emergency.
- invagination of the epithelium
- The invagination of the epithelium makes a gland.
- form an invagination
- The cell wall can form an invagination as it divides.
Synonyms and how they differ
- intussusception
- Intussusception is the usual clinical term for the bowel condition, while invagination is broader and also used in embryology.
- infolding
- Infolding is a plainer word for the same inward fold and is less technical.
- indentation
- Indentation is any dent, without the sense of a living tissue folding in.
Opposites
Word family
- invaginate verb
- to fold inward to form a pocket
- invaginated adjective
- folded in on itself
- invaginating adjective
- in the process of folding inward
Commonly confused: invagination or evagination?
invagination vs evagination
Evagination is the opposite process, an outward folding or pushing out of a layer, while invagination folds inward.
Practice
In embryo development, an invagination is best described as ____.
Choose one answer.
Invagination is the inward folding of a layer to form a pocket. The other options describe different biological events.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “invagination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.