Definition of "phagocytosis" [phagocytosis]

• The engulfing and ingestion of bacteria or other foreign bodies by phagocytes. (noun)

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.

• "Thorough analysis of the phenomena of immunization, an analysis based on extremely numerous experiments, has shown that phagocytosis is in truth a defence action on the part of the organism against the agents of disease."
• "Every influence that can trigger off the phagocytosis is naturally brought to bear."
• "In the investigations on the opsonins and bacteriotropins, investigations guided by humoral notions, on the whole only the power of the blood fluid to favour phagocytosis is regarded."