CAPSULE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does capsule mean? 

• CAPSULE (noun)
  The noun CAPSULE has 7 senses:

1. a small container

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

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

4. a shortened version of a written work

5. a structure that encloses a body part

6. a spacecraft designed to transport people and support human life in outer space

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

  Familiarity information: CAPSULE used as a noun is common.

• CAPSULE (verb)
  The verb CAPSULE has 2 senses:

1. enclose in a capsule

2. put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume

  Familiarity information: CAPSULE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CAPSULE (noun)

Sense 1

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 2

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 3

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)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A shortened version of a written work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

abridgement; abridgment; capsule; condensation

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

capsule; space capsule

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 7

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

capsule; ejection seat; ejector seat

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)

• CAPSULE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they capsule    ... he / she / it capsules   
Past simple: capsuled   
Past participle: capsuled   
-ing form: capsuling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Enclose in a capsule

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

capsulate; capsule; capsulise; capsulize

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

capsule; capsulise; capsulize; encapsulate

Context example:

capsulize the news

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

concentrate; condense; digest (make more concise)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

 Context examples 

The patient swallows the capsule and it takes video pictures of the inner walls of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines as it travels through the digestive tract.

(Capsule endoscope, NCI Dictionary)

The patient swallows a capsule about the size of a large pill.

(Capsule endoscopy, NCI Dictionary)

Capsule shells may be made from gelatin, starch, or cellulose, or other suitable materials, may be soft or hard, and are filled with solid or liquid drug products.

(Capsule, NCI Thesaurus)

A capsule is also a form for medicine that is taken by mouth.

(Capsule, NCI Dictionary)

Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wise, better England of the future.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A capsule designed to release active and/or inert ingredient(s) slowly so as to achieve a constant circulating concentration of the ingredient over a 24 hour time interval.

(Capsule 24 Hour Sustained Release Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A dosing unit equal to the amount of active ingredient(s) contained in a capsule.

(Capsule Dosing Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

A capsule covered with a semipermeable film.

(Membrane Coated Capsule Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

A renal cell cancer that has invaded the renal capsule and has spread to lymph nodes and other anatomic sites.

(Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer, NCI Thesaurus)

A combination formulation composed of a capsule containing the taxane compound paclitaxel and a tablet containing the multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor HM30181A, with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Oraxol, NCI Thesaurus)