The Collaborative International Dictionary
Secrete \Se*crete"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secreted; p. pr. & vb. n. Secreting.] [L. secretus separated, secret, hidden, p. p. of secernere. See Secret, and cf. Discrete, Discreet.]
To deposit in a place of hiding; to hide; to conceal; as, to secrete stolen goods; to secrete one's self.
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(Physiol.) To separate from the blood and elaborate by the process of secretion; to elaborate and emit as a secretion. See Secretion.
Why one set of cells should secrete bile, another urea, and so on, we do not know.
--Carpenter.Syn: To conceal; hide. See Conceal.
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 alt. (context US English) (present participle of secret English) vb. (context US English) (present participle of secret English) Etymology 2
vb. (present participle of secrete English)
Usage examples of "secreting".
Hooker has recently shown, Nepenthes, could all have acquired the power of secreting a fluid which dissolves or digests animal matter.
Drosera are continually secreting viscid fluid to replace that lost by evaporation, yet they do not secrete the ferment proper for digestion when mechanically irritated, but only after absorbing certain matter, probably of a nitrogenous nature.
By forcing up one of the lobes, I was able to see some distance between them, and all the glands within sight were secreting freely.
But the sessile glands differ in one important respect, for they never secrete spontaneously, as far as I have seen, though I have examined them under a high power on a hot day, whilst the glands on pedicels were secreting copiously.
I chose a young leaf, which was not secreting freely, and had never caught an insect, yet the secretion on all the glands coloured litmus paper of a bright red.
The pedicels are formed of several rows of cells, and support rather large globular heads, secreting viscid matter, by which minute insects are occasionally, though rarely, caught.
The pedicels of the hairs are divided by transverse partitions, and the secreting glands are formed of many cells, containing greenish matter with little globules of some substance.
The glandular hairs of ordinary plants have generally been considered by physiologists to serve only as secreting or excreting organs, but we now know that they have the power, at least in some cases, of absorbing both a solution and the vapour of ammonia.
The leaves of this ancient form were almost certainly linear, perhaps divided, and bore on their upper and lower surfaces glands which had the power of secreting and absorbing.
The three most remarkable characters possessed by the several members of the Droseraceae consist in the leaves of some having the power of movement when excited, in their glands secreting a fluid which digests animal matter, and in their absorption of the digested matter.
Judging from the evidence above given, the secreting glands of many other plants can absorb salts of ammonia, of which they must receive small quantities from the rain.
The glands on which the flies rested, as well as those on the overlapping margin which had been brought into contact with the flies, were all secreting copiously.
The glands which had been brought into contact with the upper surfaces of the seeds were now secreting freely.
After three days the margins of both leaves with the albumen were still as much inflected as ever, and the glands were still secreting copiously.
Yet in secreting this booty, the saint incurred an excommunication, and perhaps broke his oath.