capsule

/ˈkæpsəl/

/ˈkæpsəl/

Other forms: capsules; capsuled; capsuling

A capsule is a very small container that closes tightly. Many medicines come in capsules that can be easily swallowed.

Certain brands of laundry or dishwasher soap can be bought in capsule form, and you might hide a secret note or special mementos in a time capsule. A biologist probably thinks of a capsule as an anatomical structure that encloses an organ. This, in fact, is the word's earliest meaning — in French, it's a "membranous sac," from the Latin capsula, "small box or chest."

Definitions of capsule

1. noun

   a small container
   types:

   paintball

   a capsule filled with water-soluble dye used as a projectile in playing the game of paintball

   type of:

   container

   any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another)
2. noun

   a structure that encloses a body part
   types:

   malpighian body, malpighian corpuscle, renal corpuscle

   the capsule that contains Bowman's capsule and a glomerulus at the expanded end of a nephron

   eyeball, orb

   the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye

   lens capsule

   a tenuous mesoblastic membrane surrounding the lens of the eye

   type of:

   anatomical structure, bodily structure, body structure, complex body part, structure

   a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing
3. noun

   a dry dehiscent seed vessel or the spore-containing structure of e.g. mosses
   types:

   bilocular capsule

   a capsule divided into two cells or compartments

   boll

   the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant

   siliqua, silique

   narrow elongated seed capsule peculiar to the family Cruciferae

   silicle

   short broad silique occurring in some cruciferous plants

   type of:

   pericarp, seed vessel

   the ripened and variously modified walls of a plant ovary
4. noun

   a pill in the form of a small rounded gelatinous container with medicine inside
   type of:

   lozenge, pill, tab, tablet

   a dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet
5. noun

   a pilot's seat in an airplane that can be forcibly ejected in the case of an emergency; then the pilot descends by parachute
   synonyms: ejection seat, ejector seat

   type of:

   seat

   any support where you can sit (especially the part of a chair or bench etc. on which you sit)
6. noun

   a spacecraft designed to transport people and support human life in outer space
   synonyms: space capsule

   type of:

   ballistic capsule, space vehicle, spacecraft

   a vehicle or device able to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere
7. verb

   enclose in a capsule
   synonyms: capsulate, capsulise, capsulize

   type of:

   enclose, enfold, envelop, enwrap, wrap

   enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
8. noun

   a shortened version of a written work
   synonyms: abridgement, abridgment, condensation

   type of:

   sum-up, summary

   a brief statement that presents the main points in a concise form
9. verb

   put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume
   synonyms: capsulise, capsulize, encapsulate

   type of:

   concentrate, condense, digest

   make more concise