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sessile
adjective
ses·sile
ˈse-ˌsī(-ə)l
-səl
1
: attached directly by the base : not raised upon a stalk or peduncle
a sessile leaf
sessile bubbles
2
: permanently attached or established : not free to move about
sessile sponges and coral polyps
Examples of sessile in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This is an abnormal cluster of blood vessels that are sessile and look like a rubbery bump or flat red patch.
—James Myhre & Dennis Sifris, Md, Verywell Health, 3 Sep. 2024
This discovery of the cassiosomes takes us one step closer to understanding how these sessile creatures manage to capture prey.
—Cheryl Ames, National Geographic, 13 Feb. 2020
To assemble the data set, research teams looked at about 20 trees from each of the dozen tree species, which included maritime pine, Norway spruce, sessile oak, stone pine, and European beech.
—Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, 27 Jan. 2020
Jellyfish begin their lives much like their cousins, as sessile polyps anchored to the seafloor, scrounging for food in the passing currents.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2019
Well, the sessile oak sapling—from Belleau, the French site of a World War I battle—is no longer on the White House lawn.
—David Meyer, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2018
Another factor, Monterro-Serra notes, is that these sessile species are clonal.
—National Geographic, 31 Mar. 2018
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Word History
Etymology
Latin sessilis of or fit for sitting, low, dwarf (of plants), from sessus, past participle of sedēre
First Known Use
circa 1753, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near sessile
Cite this Entry
“Sessile.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sessile. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.
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