dehisce
/dɪˈhɪs/ verb
Forms dehisces dehiscing dehisced
- verb (botany) To burst or split open at definite places, discharging seeds, pollen or similar content. “Anthers dehisce when the flower opens.”
- verb (medicine) To rupture or break open, as a surgical wound. “A surgical wound may partially or completely dehisce after surgery, depending upon whether some or all of the layers of tissue come open.”
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin dehīscō (“to gape, open”), from hiō (“to be open”); related to hiatus.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To gape; to open by dehiscence.
Etymology [L. dehiscere; de- + hiscere to gape.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dehisce”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details