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nucleus |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Nucleus \Nu"cle*us\, n.; pl E. {Nucleuses}, L. {Nuclei}. [L., a kernel, dim. fr nux, nucis, nut. Cf {Newel} post.] 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. --I. Taylor. 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 cell or a protozoan, distinguished from the surrounding protoplasm by a difference in refrangibility and in behavior towards chemical reagents. 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}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: nucleus n 1: a part of the cell containing DNA and RNA and responsible for growth and reproduction [syn: {cell nucleus}] 2: the positively charged dense center of an atom 3: a small group of indispensable persons or things "five periodicals make up the core of their publishing program" [syn: {core}, {core group}] 4: (astronomy) the center of the head of a comet; consists of small solid particles of ice and frozen gas that vaporizes on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail
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