Definition of "basophilic" [basophilic]

• Relating to tissue components that stain readily with basic dyes. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thus, hematoxylin is termed a basophilic stain (i.e., reactive with groups that "love" base = acids), whereas eosin is acidophilic (i.e., reactive with groups that "love" acid = bases)."
• "Two short years later the microsomes, basophilic components of the cell ground substance, had settled in one of my test tubes, still a structureless jelly, but now captive in our hands."
• "Excessive variability in myofiber size was evident with a pattern of degeneration (multifocal groups of necrotic fibers with variable phagocytosis) and regeneration (multifocal groups of small calibre fibers with a basophilic appearance and of histochemical type 2C)."