triturate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin triturare (“thresh”).

Verb

triturate (third-person singular simple present triturates, present participle triturating, simple past and past participle triturated)

1. To grind to a fine powder, to pulverize.
2. To mix two solid reactants by repeated grinding and stirring.
3. To break up biological tissue into individual cells via passage through a narrow opening such as a hypodermic needle.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 10, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     Just over the external jugular vein there were two punctures, not large, but not wholesome-looking. There was no sign of disease, but the edges were white and worn-looking, as if by some trituration.

Derived terms

• triturable

Related terms

• tritorium
• triturable
• triturated
• trituration
• triturator
• triture

References

• “triturate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

triturate

1. inflection of triturare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

triturate f pl

1. feminine plural of triturato

Anagrams

• tritature

Latin

Verb

trītūrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of trītūrō

Spanish

Verb

triturate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of triturar combined with te