| 释义 |
contractile, a. Chiefly Phys.|kənˈtræktɪl, -taɪl|
[a. F. contractile, f. L. contract- ppl. stem of contrahĕre + -ile: cf. ductile.]
1. Having the property of contracting or drawing together; capable of contracting. Esp. contractile vacuole, a vacuole in some Protozoa which expels a solution of waste matter on contraction.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Contractile, a Term made use of by some Physicians, to express such Muscles, and other Parts of the Body as are contracted. 1793Beddoes Observ. Calculus, etc. 171 The irritable or contractile, improperly called the muscular fibre. 1848Carpenter Anim. Phys. 19 The contractile tissues, by which the movements of plants are produced. 1872Huxley Phys. ii. 40 The substance of the heart is contractile. 1877― Anat. Inv. Anim. ii. 76 The name of contractile vacuoles is given to spaces in the protoplasm [of Protozoa], which slowly become filled with a clear watery fluid, and, when they have attained a certain size, are suddenly obliterated by the coming together, on all sides, of the protoplasm in which they lie. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXV. 266/1 In the protoplasm contractile vacuoles similar to those of lower animals have been occasionally detected. 1959J. Clegg Freshwater Life (ed. 2) ii. 29 Simple single-celled creatures, such as Amoeba and Paramecium, usually have large expandable bubbles or spaces in the midst of the protoplasm called contractile vacuoles, in which excess water collects and whence it is then conducted out of the creature.
2. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of contraction; producing contraction.
1725N. Robinson Th. Physick 66 Those Vessels compos'd of Fibres that have a Contractile and Distractile Power. 1739E. Carter tr. Algarotti on Newton (1742) II. 170 Involving it in his contractile and expansive Forces. 1836Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 603/1 The contractile action takes place in every direction. 1873W. Lees Acoustics iii. i. 82 The enormous contractile force of iron. |