Medical Dictionary
inoculate
verb in·oc·u·late \in-ˈäk-yə-ˌlāt\
in·oc·u·lat·edin·oc·u·lat·ing
Medical Definition of INOCULATE
transitive verb
1
: to communicate a disease to (an organism) by inserting its causative agent into the body <12 mice inoculated with anthrax>
2
a : to introduce microorganisms or viruses onto or into (an organism, substrate, or culture medium) <inoculated a rat with bacteria> b : to introduce (as a microorganism or antiserum) into an organism or onto a culture medium <inoculate a pure culture of bacteria into a healthy host>
3
: to introduce immunologically active material (as an antibody or antigen) into especially in order to treat or prevent a disease <inoculate children against diphtheria>
intransitive verb
: to introduce microorganisms, vaccines, or sera by inoculation
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