FLOCCULATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flocculate mean? 

• FLOCCULATE (verb)
  The verb FLOCCULATE has 2 senses:

1. form into an aggregated lumpy or fluffy mass

2. cause to become a fluffy or lumpy aggregate

  Familiarity information: FLOCCULATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLOCCULATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flocculate    ... he / she / it flocculates   
Past simple: flocculated   
Past participle: flocculated   
-ing form: flocculating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form into an aggregated lumpy or fluffy mass

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

the protoplasms flocculated

Hypernyms (to "flocculate" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

flocculation (the process of flocculating; forming woolly cloudlike aggregations)

flocculent (having a fluffy character or appearance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to become a fluffy or lumpy aggregate

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The chemist flocculated the suspended material

Hypernyms (to "flocculate" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

flocculent (having a fluffy character or appearance)

 Context examples 

In purification of drinking water, aluminum sulfate acts as a flocculating agent which causes impurities to coagulate and sediment, so that they are easily removed by filtration.

(Aluminum Sulfate, NCI Thesaurus)