Hypertext Webster Gateway: "capsule"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Capsule \Cap"sule\, n. [L. capsula a little box or chest, fr.
capsa chest, case, fr. capere to take, contain: cf. F.
capsule.]
1. (Bot.) a dry fruit or pod which is made up of several
parts or carpels, and opens to discharge the seeds, as,
the capsule of the poppy, the flax, the lily, etc.
2. (Chem.)
(a) A small saucer of clay for roasting or melting samples
of ores, etc.; a scorifier.
(b) a small, shallow, evaporating dish, usually of
porcelain.
3. (Med.) A small cylindrical or spherical gelatinous
envelope in which nauseous or acrid doses are inclosed to
be swallowed.
4. (Anat.) A membranous sac containing fluid, or investing an
organ or joint; as, the capsule of the lens of the eye.
Also, a capsulelike organ.
5. A metallic seal or cover for closing a bottle.
6. A small cup or shell, as of metal, for a percussion cap,
cartridge, etc.
{Atrabiliary capsule}. See under {Atrabiliary}.
{Glisson's capsule}, a membranous envelope, entering the
liver along with the portal vessels and insheathing the
latter in their course through the organ.
{Suprarenal capsule}, an organ of unknown function, above or
in front of each kidney.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
capsule
n 1: a small container (as one holding electronic equipment)
2: a pill in the form of a small rounded container with
medicine inside
3: a dry dehiscent seed vessel or the spore-containing
structure of e.g. mosses
4: a shortened version of a written work [syn: {condensation},
{abridgement}, {abridgment}]
5: a structure that encloses a body part
6: a spacecraft designed to transport people and support human
life in outer space [syn: {space capsule}]
7: a pilot's seat in an airplane that can be forcibly ejected
in the case of an emergency; then the pilot descends by
parachute [syn: {ejection seat}, {ejector seat}]
v 1: enclose in a capsule [syn: {capsulate}, {capsulize}]
2: put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume; "capsulize
the news" [syn: {encapsulate}, {capsulize}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.