Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dehiscence"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dehiscence \De*his"cence\, n. [Cf. F. d['e]hiscence.]
1. The act of gaping.
2. (Biol.) A gaping or bursting open along a definite line of
attachment or suture, without tearing, as in the opening
of pods, or the bursting of capsules at maturity so as to
emit seeds, etc.; also, the bursting open of follicles, as
in the ovaries of animals, for the expulsion of their
contents.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dehiscence
n : (biology) release of material by splitting open of an organ
or tissue; (botany) natural bursting open at maturity of
a fruit or other reproductive body to release seeds or
spores; (surgery) bursting open of a surgically closed
wound
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