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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



... sea trout which are caught with the mackerel, and steam back to Galway. A splendid fellow in the cabin discloses his views. "We must have complete independence. We shall start with 120,000 men for the Army of Independence. That will be only a nucleus. We shall attract all the brave, chivalrous, adventurous spirits of America. England has India to draw from. Trot your niggers over, we'll make short work of them. We draw from America, Australia, ...
— Ireland as It Is - And as It Would be Under Home Rule • Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

... Presidency of China for that of Mexico, and the new President sold the Chulalongkorn back to Great Britain. Of course by that time she was quite obsolete, so they called her the Indefensible, and put a nucleus crew on board for a few months. Then when Mr. LLOYD GEORGE became Prime Minister, they offered her to Canada as a gift; but the Canadians didn't like her name. And when Mr. WINSTON CHURCHILL came back last month he decided that she was to be made a target; but last ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, January 7, 1914 • Various

... Mayor, represents the middle-class Conservatives; his people are less showy, but more in earnest and better disciplined; this Platonian or Platonic party is made up of chandlers, silversmiths, small merchants, and the poor priests. The friar, who represents the third Conservative nucleus, is Father Martin Lafuerza. Father Martin is prior of the Franciscan monastery, which was established here after the Order was expelled ...
— Caesar or Nothing • Pio Baroja Baroja

... twos, the Grosser Carl's remaining officers and deck hands came shamefacedly toward this new nucleus of authority and order, and then the real work began. The emigrants, with sea sights and sea usage new to them, were still full of the unreasoning panic of cattle, and like cattle they were herded and handled, and their women and young ...
— A Master of Fortune • Cutcliffe Hyne

... earth'; and even the cheerless exclamation of Mirabeau, 'Let my ears be filled with martial music, crown me with flowers, and thus shall I enter on my eternal sleep.' Charged with these reflections, and hoping to find the nucleus of a funeral sermon, the minister made inquiry of the son of the deceased parishioner, 'What were the last words of your father?' The unexpected reply was 'Pap he didn't have no last words; mother she just stayed ...
— Something of Men I Have Known - With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective • Adlai E. Stevenson


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