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coleoptile definition

co·leop·tile (kō′lē äp′til, käl′ē-)

noun

the tubular protective sheath which surrounds the young shoot in the germinating grass seed

Etymology: ModL coleoptilum < Gr koleos, sheath + ptilon, feather, prob. < IE *pti-, var. of base *pet-: see feather

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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