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REDUCTION DIVISION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(genetics) cell division that produces reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms; the nucleus divides into four nuclei each containing half the chromosome number (leading to gametes in animals and spores in plants)
Synonyms:
meiosis; miosis; reduction division
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural processes
Hypernyms ("reduction division" is a kind of...):
cell division; cellular division (the process in reproduction and growth by which a cell divides to form daughter cells)
Meronyms (parts of "reduction division"):
anaphase (the stage of meiosis or mitosis when chromosomes move toward opposite ends of the nuclear spindle)
cytokinesis (organic process consisting of the division of the cytoplasm of a cell following karyokinesis bringing about the separation into two daughter cells)
karyokinesis (organic process consisting of the division of the nucleus of a cell during mitosis or meiosis)
metaphase (the second stage of meiosis)
prophase (the first stage of meiosis)
segregation ((genetics) the separation of paired alleles during meiosis so that members of each pair of alleles appear in different gametes)
telophase (the final stage of meiosis when the chromosomes move toward opposite ends of the nuclear spindle)
Domain category:
genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reduction division"):
nondisjunction (meiosis in which there is a failure of paired homologous chromosomes to separate; results in an abnormal number of chromosomes in the daughter cells)
