Vacuole

//ˈvækjʊˌəʊl// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A large membrane-bound vesicle in a cell's cytoplasm.
  2. 2
    a tiny cavity filled with fluid in the cytoplasm of a cell wordnet
  3. 3
    A small empty or air-filled space or vacuity.

    "This surface itself was not entirely homogeneous, but beneath it, seen as through ground glass, there were dim whitish patches or vacuoles, which varied constantly in shape and size."

Example

More examples

"This surface itself was not entirely homogeneous, but beneath it, seen as through ground glass, there were dim whitish patches or vacuoles, which varied constantly in shape and size."

Etymology

From French vacuole, from Medieval Latin vacuola, formed as a diminutive of Latin vacuus (“empty”).

Related phrases

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