em•bed
Pronunciation: (em-bed'), [key]
— v., -bed•ded, -bed•ding.
—v.t.
- to fix into a surrounding mass: to embed stones in cement.
- to surround tightly or firmly; envelop or enclose: Thick cotton padding embedded the precious vase in its box.
- to incorporate or contain as an essential part or characteristic: A love of color is embedded in all of her paintings.
- to infiltrate (a biological tissue) with molten paraffin or other plastic material that later solidifies, enabling the preparation to be sliced very thin for viewing under a microscope.
- to map a set into another set.
- to insert (a construction, as a phrase or clause) into a larger construction, as a clause or sentence.
—v.i.
- to be or become fixed or incorporated, as into a surrounding mass: Glass embeds in the soft tar of the road.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.