etiolation

American  

[ee-tee-uh-lay-shuhn] / ˌi ti əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

plural

etiolations

1. the process or result of becoming weak or drained of vigor; enfeeblement.

2. Horticulture. the process or result of etiolating a plant.

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etiolation Scientific  

/ ē′tē-ə-lā′shən /

1. A pathological condition of plants that grow in places that provide insufficient light, as under stones. It is characterized by elongated stems and pale color due to lack of chlorophyll.

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Other Word Forms

• de-etiolation noun

Example Sentences

Perhaps he overlooked the packets’ stern warnings about overcrowding and etiolation and damping off, their instructions to carefully sprinkle pre-wetted soil extremely sparsely with, say, five seeds at a time.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 23, 2019

The dullness of the scholastic atmosphere the grey, intolerant mediocrity that is the natural or assumed quality of every upper-class schoolmaster, is the true cause of the spiritual etiolation of "Kappa's" young friend.

From An Englishman Looks at the World by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

Attention was drawn to the fact that by virtue of the laws which Darwin himself had discovered isolation leads to etiolation.

From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)

By the fierce battle under every blade, By the etiolation of the shade, By drouth and thirst and things undone half made, Oh, hear!

From A Cluster of Grapes A Book of Twentieth Century Poetry by Various

Its withdrawal does not so immediately destroy the plant, being attended with the etiolation of the parts that are usually colored, but a sudden re-exposure to the sun's rays will now destroy the plant.

From American Pomology Apples by Warder, J. A.