DictionaryAI

insertion

noun
Sayin-SUR-shuhnUS/ɪnˈsɝʃən/UK/ɪnˈsɜːʃən/

Pluralinsertions

4 meanings of insertion

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  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The act of putting one thing inside another, or the thing that has been put in.

    The insertion of a comma changed the sentence's meaning entirely.

    The tailor sewed a delicate lace insertion into the dress's bodice.

    Similaraddition, introduction, inclusion, inset

    Oppositeremoval, deletion, extraction

  2. 2
    nouncountable
    The attachment point on the bone that a muscle moves, located at the muscle's far end away from the body's center.

    The biceps has its insertion on the radius, the forearm bone it flexes.

    Surgeons repaired the tendon near its insertion on the heel.

    Similarattachment

    Oppositeorigin

    Note

    Anatomists describe every muscle by two ends, and this is the end that travels: it sits on the more mobile bone across a joint. Its partner term is the origin, anchored to the comparatively fixed bone that stays put when the muscle contracts. The two words work as a pair, and the usual phrasing is that a muscle has its insertion on a particular bone.

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A mutation that adds a nucleotide into a chromosome.

    The insertion shifted the reading frame and disrupted the protein.

    Researchers traced the disorder to an insertion in a single gene.

    Oppositedeletion

    Note

    In genetics the size of the addition matters as much as the fact of it, and one or more bases may be added. Inside a coding region, an insertion that is not a multiple of three throws off the reading frame and changes every codon downstream. That is why a single added base can do more damage than its size suggests.

  4. 4
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The transition of fissile material from subcritical to prompt critical, the point at which a runaway chain reaction can begin.

    The weapon's design depends on a rapid insertion to reach its full yield.

    Any delay in the insertion would let the assembly fizzle.

    Note

    Weapons designers use the word for a race against time. Subcritical material lets a chain reaction die out, and prompt-critical material sustains one on prompt neutrons alone. The aim is to make the passage between the two as quick as possible. A stray neutron arriving partway through can start the reaction too early, and the device then fizzles instead of reaching full yield.

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Origin

Formed from the verb "insert" combined with the suffix "-ion".