Holocrine

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to a mode of secretion in some exocrine glands in which the plasma membrane ruptures, releasing the cell's cytoplasm into the lumen of the gland. not-comparable

    "The venom glands of teleosts consist of an aggregation of holocrine cells derived from the epidermis but often sunken into the dermis, on either side of a spine, usually of dorsal or pectoral fin."

Synonyms

All synonyms
apocrineendocrineglandularhumoralmerocrineovarian

Example

More examples

"The venom glands of teleosts consist of an aggregation of holocrine cells derived from the epidermis but often sunken into the dermis, on either side of a spine, usually of dorsal or pectoral fin."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole, entire”) and κρῑ́νω (krī́nō, “to separate”).

Related phrases

exocrine glandplasma membrane

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.