Definition of "gamete" [gam•ete]

• A reproductive cell having the haploid number of chromosomes, especially a mature sperm or egg capable of fusing with a gamete of the opposite sex to produce the fertilized egg. (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.

• "A variation of IVF, called gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) consists of the immediate injection of the ova into the fallopian tube after combination with semen without determining whether they have been successfully fertilized."
• "In females, the gamete is the egg, fewer and larger cells produced in an environment capable of supplying nutrition to a developing embryo."
• "Marriage is often actually defined as the gamete of the state."