INOCULATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inoculate mean? 

• INOCULATE (verb)
  The verb INOCULATE has 5 senses:

1. introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of

2. introduce a microorganism into

3. perform vaccinations or produce immunity in by inoculation

4. insert a bud for propagation

5. impregnate with the virus or germ of a disease in order to render immune

  Familiarity information: INOCULATE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INOCULATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they inoculate    ... he / she / it inoculates   
Past simple: inoculated   
Past participle: inoculated   
-ing form: inoculating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Introduce an idea or attitude into the mind of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

My teachers inoculated me with their beliefs

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

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Introduce a microorganism into

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

enclose; inclose; insert; introduce; put in; stick in (place, fit, or thrust (something) into another thing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "inoculate"):

seed (inoculate with microorganisms)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Perform vaccinations or produce immunity in by inoculation

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

immunise; immunize; inoculate; vaccinate

Context example:

The nurse vaccinated the children in the school

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

inject; shoot (give an injection to)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

inoculant (a substance (a virus or toxin or immune serum) that is introduced into the body to produce or increase immunity to a particular disease)

inoculating (the act of protecting against disease by introducing a vaccine into the body to induce immunity)

inoculation (taking a vaccine as a precaution against contracting a disease)

inoculator (a medical practitioner who inoculates people against diseases)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Insert a bud for propagation

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

propagate (cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Impregnate with the virus or germ of a disease in order to render immune

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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

impregnate (fertilize and cause to grow)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

Inoculating an individual with either killed or live agents to prevent contraction of a disease.

(Immunization, NCI Thesaurus)

A dose at which an infectious organism can reproduce in the host or the system in which it has been inoculated and to produce measurable effect(s).

(Infectious Dose, NCI Thesaurus)

Each tube contains a known concentration of drug and is inoculated with a known quantity of bacteria.

(Macro Broth Dilution Method, NCI Thesaurus)

Direct innoculation of DNA vaccine causes expression of the recombinant DNA by cells in the inoculated host.

(DNA Vaccine, NCI Thesaurus)

All 12 mice inoculated with brain tissue developed prion disease, as did all 12 inoculated with skin extracts, though disease in the skin group took about twice as long — roughly 400 days — to develop.

(NIH scientists and collaborators find infectious prion protein in skin of CJD patients, National Institutes of Health)

Each well contains a known concentration of drug which is inoculated with a known quantity of bacteria.

(Micro Broth Dilution Method, NCI Thesaurus)

A study published in the Lancet last month showed that one-third of the people who had received MeNZB did not get gonorrhea, compared to a control group who was not inoculated.

(Vaccine for Meningitis Shows Some Protection Against Gonorrhea, VOA)

A method to determine microbial susceptibility to antibiotics in which a plastic strip impregnated with the antibiotic of interest is placed on an agar plate that has been inoculated with bacteria.

(Epsilometry, NCI Thesaurus)

A method to determine microbial susceptibility to antibiotics in which test bacteria is inoculated onto agar plates with serial dilutions of know quantities of antibiotics.

(Agar Dilution Method, NCI Thesaurus)

Hyperimmune bovine colostrum is harvested during the first days after calving from cows that have been inoculated repeatedly with specific pathogens during pregnancy.

(Hyperimmune Bovine Colostrum, NCI Thesaurus)