Library / English Dictionary

CAPSULE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A pill in the form of a small rounded gelatinous container with medicine inside

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

lozenge; pill; tab; tablet (a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet)

Derivation:

capsular (of or relating to a capsule)

capsulate (enclose in a capsule)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small container

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "capsule"):

paintball (a capsule filled with water-soluble dye used as a projectile in playing the game of paintball)

Derivation:

capsular (of or relating to a capsule)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A pilot's seat in an airplane that can be forcibly ejected in the case of an emergency; then the pilot descends by parachute

Synonyms:

capsule; ejection seat; ejector seat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

seat (any support where you can sit (especially the part of a chair or bench etc. on which you sit))

Holonyms ("capsule" is a part of...):

cockpit (compartment where the pilot sits while flying the aircraft)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A spacecraft designed to transport people and support human life in outer space

Synonyms:

capsule; space capsule

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

ballistic capsule; space vehicle; spacecraft (a craft capable of traveling in outer space; technically, a satellite around the sun)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A structure that encloses a body part

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "capsule"):

malpighian body; malpighian corpuscle; renal corpuscle (the capsule that contains Bowman's capsule and a glomerulus at the expanded end of a nephron)

eyeball; orb (the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye)

lens capsule (a tenuous mesoblastic membrane surrounding the lens of the eye)

Derivation:

capsular (of or relating to a capsule)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A shortened version of a written work

Synonyms:

abridgement; abridgment; capsule; condensation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

sum-up; summary (a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form)

Derivation:

capsulise; capsulize (put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A dry dehiscent seed vessel or the spore-containing structure of e.g. mosses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("capsule" is a kind of...):

pericarp; seed vessel (the ripened and variously modified walls of a plant ovary)

Meronyms (parts of "capsule"):

peristome ((botany) fringe of toothlike appendages surrounding the mouth of a moss capsule)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "capsule"):

bilocular capsule (a capsule divided into two cells or compartments)

boll (the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant)

siliqua; silique (narrow elongated seed capsule peculiar to the family Cruciferae)

Derivation:

capsular (of or relating to a capsule)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume

Example:

capsulize the news

Synonyms:

capsule; capsulise; capsulize; encapsulate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "capsule" is one way to...):

concentrate; condense; digest (make more concise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Enclose in a capsule

Synonyms:

capsulate; capsule; capsulise; capsulize

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "capsule" is one way to...):

enclose; enfold; envelop; enwrap; wrap (enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

A capsule intended for administration through the mouth.

(Oral Capsule Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

Remains of food and other materials left in caves inhabited by pack rats which are preserved and serve as a "time capsule" of the vegetation of the time and, by extension, the climate.

(Pack rat middens, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

It is usually surrounded by a well-defined capsule.

(Parathyroid Gland Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Periodic Acid Schiff staining is useful for outlining tissue structures such as basement membranes, capsules and blood vessels.

(Periodic Acid Schiff Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

PAS is useful for outlining tissue structures—basement membranes, capsules, blood vessels, etc.

(Periodic Acid Schiff Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)

The olive oil extract/curcumin-based capsule is rich in phytonutrients, especially polyphenols.

(Olive Oil Extract/Curcumin-based Capsule, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologically malignant thymoma that is entirely confined within the capsule. —2003

(Noninvasive Malignant Thymoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A thymoma that focally infiltrates the surrounding capsule and invades the mediastinal fat.

(Minimally Invasive Thymoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A capsule dosing unit expressed in milligram(s) per capsule.

(Milligram per Capsule, NCI Thesaurus)

A capsule formulation containing a small-molecule receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor of KIT, CSF1R and FLT3 with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Multitargeted Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor PLX3397, NCI Thesaurus)