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Glite Dictionary
🦠 About immune cells 🐟 Eating big food
macrophagic

macrophagic

9.1
Relating to animals or cells that eat large pieces of food like prey
  • adjective
  • /ˌmækroʊˈfeɪdʒɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : macrofágico
  • Some fish species are considered macrophagic because they consume large pieces of food.

Examples

  • Researchers observed that the macrophagic cells quickly engulfed the large particles introduced into the sample.

  • The macrophagic behavior of these organisms allows them to process bigger prey than others in their environment.

  • The macrophagic cells play a crucial role in the immune response.

  • In the lab, we studied macrophagic behavior in certain species.

  • The researchers found that the macrophagic cells ingested larger particles than their counterparts.

  • Some species of marine life exhibit macrophagic feeding habits, allowing them to consume substantial amounts of prey.

  • The study focused on macrophagic organisms that are capable of ingesting and processing large food items.

Synonyms

phagocytic
vsmacrophagic
  • Specialized
9.9

A cell that can swallow and digest bacteria and small particles

focuses on feeding on larger particles or prey rather than small microbes

Surface Forms

macrophagic positive

Morphology

macrophagic = macrophage (transparent) = macro + phage + ic

The adjective is a regular technical derivative of macrophage with -ic, so the meaning is straightforward if the base noun is known.

Etymology

Macrophagic comes from the Greek parts macro- meaning 'large' and -phagic from phagein meaning 'to eat'. It describes animals or cells that feed on large pieces of food or prey, so the word literally means 'eating big things'.