| 释义 |
spongiform, a.|ˈspʌndʒɪfɔːm|
[f. spongi-.]
1. Resembling a sponge in structure; light and porous.
1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 97 Spongiform. In this figure the cells are cylindrical. 1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 199/2 Cavernous quartz is termed Spongiform quartz or Swimming stone. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 251/2 An infinite number of minute cavities, which render the product light and spongiform.
2. Zoologically resembling a sponge.
1839H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. ix. 264 This view seems borne out by the alcyonic and other spongiform remains. 1876Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xv. 280 Of spongiform organisms we may mention mammillopora.
Add:3. Special collocation: spongiform encephalopathy Path., any of various degenerative diseases of the central nervous system characterized by histological change in brain tissue, which assumes a sponge-like appearance due to the degeneration and loss of neurones, and the appearance of vacuoles; bovine spongiform encephalopathy (see *bovine a. 3).
1960Brain LXXXIII. 546 Some authors regard this condition now under review as a variant of the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease but we consider that it is fundamentally different and propose now to refer to it as subacute *spongiform encephalopathy or spongiform cerebral atrophy as suggested by Jacob et al. (1958). 1979M. J. Taussig Processes in Path. & Microbiol. iii. 370 There are four examples of the chronic degenerative brain disease known as spongiform encephalopathy, two in man (kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) and two in animals (scrapie and transmissable mink encephalopathy). 1991N.Y. Times 8 Oct. c12/5 In Britain,..an epidemic of spongiform encephalopathy in cows, known as mad cow disease, has held the nation in thrall for the past five years. |