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countable and uncountable, plural phagocytoses
(immunology, cytology) A form of endocytosis in which a cell incorporates a particle by extending pseudopodia and drawing the particle into a vacuole of its cytoplasm. quotations
On account of the possession of this property, Metschnikoff has suggested for these groups of cells the term phagocytes, as expressive of their most distinctive feature, and for the process in general the term phagocytosis.
1889 April 13, William Osler, “Original Lectures: On Phagocytes”, in Medical Record, volume 35, number 15, page 393