Definition

1. Verb:
   • To cause the clumping together of red blood cells: This is a technical term in biology and medicine meaning to induce agglutination, specifically the clumping or aggregation of red blood cells.

Usage

• This verb is used in scientific contexts, particularly in hematology, immunology, and virology, to describe a process where substances (like antibodies or viral proteins) cause red blood cells to stick together into visible clumps.
• It is a transitive verb, typically used in the passive voice or with a direct object (e.g., "The virus haemagglutinates red blood cells").

Examples

• Active Voice:

  • The influenza virus can haemagglutinate human red blood cells.
  • The antibody was shown to haemagglutinate the erythrocytes in the sample.

• Passive Voice / Past Participle:

  • The red blood cells were haemagglutinated by the lectin.
  • A haemagglutinated sample appears granular or clumpy.

Advanced Usage

• "Haemagglutinating" (Adjective/Present Participle): Describing an agent that causes this clumping.
  • Scientists identified a haemagglutinating protein on the virus surface.
• "Haemagglutinated" (Adjective/Past Participle): Describing the state of the red blood cells after the process.
  • The haemagglutinated cells settled into a distinctive pattern.

Variants and Related Words

• Hemagglutinate: The American English spelling (without the 'a').
• Haemagglutination (Noun): The process or phenomenon of red blood cell clumping.
  • The test detects viral presence through haemagglutination.
• Haemagglutinin (Noun): A substance, often a protein, that causes haemagglutination.
  • The haemagglutinin of the influenza virus is a key target for vaccines.

Synonyms

• Agglutinate: A more general term for causing clumping, not specific to red blood cells.

Notes

• This is a highly specialized term. In general contexts, "clump" or "cause clumping" would be used. "Haemagglutinate" is precise to the field of blood cell biology.
• The process of haemagglutination is a crucial principle in many diagnostic laboratory tests.

Verb

1. cause the clumping together (of red blood cells)