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Glite Dictionary
to abscise

to abscise

9.9
To fall off a plant naturally, like leaves or fruit
  • verb
  • /æbˈsaɪz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : abscindir
  • The flowers will abscise once they have bloomed and are no longer needed.

Examples

  • Plants often abscise their fruit when it becomes overripe to allow for new growth.

  • PHOTO (COLOR): In studying ways to increase yield by reducing the number of flowers and pods that prematurely drop, or abscise, plant molecular biologist Mark Tucker examines the pod set of a healthy soybean plant.

    Academic text (1996)

  • In autumn, many trees abscise their leaves to prepare for winter.

Synonyms

to fall out
vsto abscise
53 3.5

To come out and drop from where it grew or was held

applies to plant parts shedding naturally rather than general detaching
defoliate
vsto abscise
  • Specialized
7.0

Having no leaves after insects or chemical spraying

happens naturally as plant parts drop off by themselves

Surface Forms

abscise infinitive
abscised past
abscised past participle
abscising present participle
abscises third person singular

Morphology

abscise = abscission (opaque) = ab + scise

The verb relates to the learned noun 'abscission' and contains the combining element 'scise', which is not a familiar standalone English base for average learners.

Etymology

The word abscise comes from Latin parts ab- 'away' and scindere 'to cut', the same root as scissors, so to abscise is to 'cut away' or let a plant 'drop off' leaves or fruit.