This page gathers the 9,272 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Biology”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 92 of 93: from “warning coloration” to “xenopsin”.
- warning coloration noun A form of aposematism in which a prey organism has conspicuous colors which function in deterring predators from consuming it.
- warthog noun A wild pig of the genus Phacochoerus, native to Africa.
- wash barrel noun A barrel nearly full of split mackerel, loosely put in, and afterward filled with salt water in order to soak the blood from the fish…
- washout noun The cleaning of matter from a physiological system using a fluid; also, the fluid used for such cleaning; or the matter cleaned out from…
- wasp noun Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
- water balance noun The equilibrium between the input and output of water in a specific area or system over a given time period.
- water bloom noun A dense population of microscopic photosynthetic organisms, such as algae or cyanobacteria, that rapidly proliferates on the surface of…
- water mouse noun Any of several species of rodents of the genus Hydromys, native to New Guinea and Australia, with strong hind legs and partially webbed…
- water snail noun An aquatic (usually freshwater) snail.
- water tube noun A tubelike structure found in certain invertebrates that functions similarly to a kidney in a vertebrate.
- water vascular system noun The hydraulic system found in the bodies of all echinoderms, which allows for a continuous flow of water through canals to the tube feet…
- water-chat noun A classification for certain types of birds.
- water-salamander noun Any salamander (Order Urodela) which habitually or permanently lives in water.
- waterdock noun Any of a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus Rumex native to fens and freshwater banks of Europe and Western Asia.
- waterleaf noun Any plant of the genus Hydrophyllum.
- waterplant noun An aquatic plant
- waved adj Having on the margin a succession of curved segments or incisions.
- wavy adj Moving up and down relative to the surface; undulate.
- wayfaring-tree noun A much-branched European shrub of large size (Viburnum lantana), with dense cymes of small white flowers, the foliage and young shoots…
- wayfinding noun The ability of a person or animal to orientate itself and to navigate; the process used by a person or animal for orienting and navigating.
- webbing noun The webs of the digits.
- Weberian ossicle noun One of a chain of small bones that connect the auditory system to the air bladder of teleost fishes.
- wedge noun A group of geese, swans, or other birds when they are in flight in a V formation.
- weedy adj Characteristic of a plant that grows rapidly and spreads invasively, and which grows opportunistically in cracks of sidewalks and disturbed…
- weel noun An arrangement of hairs that keeps insects out of flowers.
- wekau noun An extinct small New Zealand owl with short wings and long legs that lived chiefly on the ground (†Sceloglaux albifacies).
- well noun In a microtiter plate, each of the small equal circular or square sections which serve as test tubes.
- welwitindolinone noun An alkaloid extracted from certain blue-green algae that may be active against drug resistance; it has a structure similar to that of…
- Western blot noun An analytical technique using targeted antibodies to detect specific proteins in a given sample of tissue homogenate or extract.
- wet adj Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
- wet mount noun A microscope slide on which a fluid or something suspended in a fluid is placed and held under a cover slip.
- wetwood noun Wood with a darkened or wet appearance resulting from abnormally high water content or a bacterial infection.
- wheldone noun A fungal metabolite isolated from the coculture of Aspergillus fischeri and Xylaria flabelliformis, displaying cytotoxic activity against…
- whiffle verb To descend rapidly from a height once the decision to land has been made, involving fast side-slipping first one way and then the other.
- whirlin noun A protein encoded in humans by the gene DFNB31, possibly involved in the formation of scaffolding protein complexes that facilitate…
- white blood noun Blood devoid of red blood cells, commonly found in invertebrates.
- white ginger noun Ginger rootstock which has been dried and scraped.
- white rust noun A disease of some plants caused by the pathogen Albugo candida
- whitetip noun Any of various species of damselfly of the genus Episynlestes, endemic to Australia.
- whorl noun A circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
- whort noun The whortleberry, or bilberry (fruit).
- wicket noun A device to measure the height of animals, usually dogs.
- wild mint noun Mentha arvensis
- wild onion noun Any of a large number of noncultivated plants that smell similar to, or otherwise resemble, domesticated onions, especially in the genus…
- wild type noun The typical form of an organism, strain, gene or characteristic as it occurs in nature.
- wildering noun A plant growing in a state of nature, especially one that has run wild or escaped from cultivation.
- wildlife corridor noun A strip of vegetation that differs from its surrounding environment and which connects otherwise separate habitat areas.
- willardiine noun The amino acid 3-(uracil-1-yl)-L-alanine, named so for its occurrence in the seeds of the Willard acacia.
- wilt noun Any of various plant diseases characterized by wilting.
- windshield phenomenon noun The anecdotal observed decrease in the number of insects splattering across windshields during road trips across the years.
- wine rope noun A rope or cloth, soaked in highly sugared wine, hung outdoors to attract moths for scientific study.
- wing noun An appendage of an animal's (bird, bat, insect) body that enables it to fly.
- wing-handed adj Having the anterior limbs or hands adapted for flight, as in the bats, flying foxes or pterodactyls.
- winker noun The nictitating membrane (“transparent protective fold of skin acting as an inner eyelid”) of a birds's eye.
- winter coat noun An animal's seasonal appearance in winter, notably thicker and/or otherwise camouflaged plumage or fur after (often autumnal) moulting
- wired adj Having wiry feathers.
- wiskostatin noun An inhibitor, 1-(3,6-dibromocarbazol-9-yl)-3-(dimethylamino)propan-2-ol, that nonselectively perturbs membrane transport by decreasing…
- witch's broom noun A disease or deformity in a woody plant, typically a tree, such that the natural structure of the plant is changed so that a dense mass of…
- wobble noun A variation in the third nucleotide of a codon that codes for a specific aminoacid.
- wogonin noun An O-methylated flavone found in Scutellaria baicalensis, and used in treating certain medical conditions.
- wood parenchyma noun The vertical and usually axially arranged parenchyma of the xylem that is believed to function chiefly in carbohydrate storage.
- woody adj Non-herbaceous.
- workerless adj That have no worker caste.
- worm-like chain noun A model describing stiff, flexible polymers (like DNA), treating them as a continuous, elastic rod that resists bending but can curve…
- worm-star noun A collection of nematode worms stuck together at their tails, caused by a bacterial infection by Verde1 that causes their tails to become…
- wormworld noun An age that is dominated by worms.
- Woronin body noun An organelle found near the septae that divide hyphal compartments in filamentous Ascomycota, formed by budding from conventional…
- wort noun A non-vascular plant growing on land from the division Anthocerotophyta (the hornworts) or Marchantiophyta (liverworts); an…
- wound cambium noun A layer of phellogen resulting from the tangential division of epidermal cells, or from cortical cells beneath the epidermis.
- wound gum noun A substance abundantly secreted in the vessels by the surrounding starch cells, closing the wound cavities.
- wreck noun A large number of birds that have been brought to the ground, injured or dead, by extremely adverse weather.
- Wuhan pneumonia noun A form of pneumonia due to infection by a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which is genetically similar to SARS and MERS.
- X chromosome noun A mammalian sex chromosome: in the XY sex-determination system, cells of females typically have a pair of X chromosomes, while cells of…
- X organ noun A cluster of neurosecretory cells located in the eyestalks of crustaceans; it acts as a primary endocrine center that synthesizes and…
- X-linked gene noun Any gene located on the sex chromosomes. Typically, these genes are found on the X chromosome and not on the Y chromosome.
- X-linked trait noun Any trait or characteristic whose appearance or absence in a person is determined by a gene on the sex chromosomes. Typically, these genes…
- xanthan noun A polysaccharide, consisting of galactose and mannose residues, produced by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris
- xanthid noun Any crab in the Xanthidae.
- xanthine oxidase noun A crystallizable flavoprotein enzyme containing iron and molybdenum that promotes the oxidation especially of hypoxanthine and xanthine to…
- xDNA noun A size-expanded nucleotide system synthesized from the fusion of a benzene ring and one of the four natural bases: adenine, guanine…
- xenacanthiform noun Any of the order †Xenacanthiformes of extinct shark-like chondrichthyans.
- xenia noun The effect that genes from pollen have on the endosperm.
- xenic adj Containing an unidentified organism, especially a bacterium.
- xenicid noun Any member of the family Xenicidae, which is currently considered to be a synonym of the Acanthisittidae.
- xenization noun The process of integrating an organism into an environment containing other types of organisms.
- xeno- prefix From a donor of another species.
- xenobiont noun Any organism found in surroundings, or in association with another organism, in which it is normally absent.
- xenobiosis noun A form of symbiosis where one species of ant lives with another and the two species raise their young separately.
- xenobiotic noun Any foreign compound not produced by an organism's metabolism.
- xenobot noun An artificial construct built from cells extracted from Xenopus embryos, and designed to move, consume, and build piles.
- xenoculture noun A foreign culture.
- xenodontine adj Belonging to a group of colubrid snakes with unusual teeth.
- xenogamy noun The transfer of pollen from the anthers of one plant to the stigma of another; cross-pollination.
- xenogenesis noun The production of an offspring that is unlike either of its parents.
- xenohormesis noun A hypothetical process by which an animal consuming a plant may respond to signalling molecules in the plant and exhibit a corresponding…
- xenologue noun A type of ortholog where the homologous sequences are found in different species because of horizontal gene transfer.
- xenology noun Homology from horizontal gene transfer.
- xenoparous adj Of or relating to a reproductive strategy in which a female produces offspring of a different species without a process of hybridization.
- xenophagy noun A categorical change in diet, such as a herbivore becoming carnivorous.
- xenopsin noun An octapeptide present in the frog Xenopus laevis